If, like millions of others, you’re completely mesmerized by Megan Fox’s hotness then no doubt you’ve already decided that her latest horror-comedy flick, Jennifer’s Body, is for you. Clearly, however, not everyone is that mesmerized because the film only managed to pull in $6.8M in its opening weekend, effectively making it one of the worst performers of the week.
If Megan Fox can’t do it alone, the question begs: is the film worth seeing on its own merits? I’ll let you answer that question yourself. To help you, here’s a few excerpts from the myriad of reviews that have turned up online together with the trailer, a few clips, and a selection of images from the film. I’m guessing you will find plenty in this article to help you make up your own mind on whether or not you’ll help this struggling flick to improve its big-screen performance.
About a week ago I wrote an article about an upcoming sci-fi web series from online content producer 60 Frames titled Ark that I thought looked highly promising. If you missed that article, I recommend reading it before continuing with this one as it covers a great deal of background on the series that I won’t cover here. Check it out at the link below (where you can also watch the trailer):
Since writing the above article I have been fortunate to view an early screener of the entire ten episode series. I say “fortunate” because Ark delivers brilliant sci-fi and in my opinion is the best science fiction web series that I’ve seen so far.
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra has posted the highest US domestic opening (by a non-sequel movie) for the month of August in history.
Paramount’s non-stop action flick, directed by Stephen Sommers, hauled in $22.3M on its opening day.
It is estimated the film will approach $60M by the end of its opening weekend, which should place it in the top 3 August openers of all time. The Bourne Ultimatum sits at no.1 with $69.3M and Rush Hour 2 is at no.2 with $67.4M.
Bear McCreary’s epic score to the fourth season of Battlestar Galactica was released on July 28.
Whilst the score was snubbed by the Emmy’s it hasn’t been by fans. The first printing sold out in pre-orders, the album has since rocketed into the top 10 for music sales on Amazon, and already a number of glowing reviews are popping up online.
Not only is the scale of this musical world impressive, but McCreary’s references to past episode, past themes, past seasons, and past series is truly astounding…This album is a must-have for any soundtrack collector.
The soundtrack is a brilliant piece of entertainment, with high points vastly outweighing the lows…and Bear McCreary deserves praise as the architect of that brilliance.
Human Target is a new series from Fox based on the DC Comic of the same name that follows a bodyguard who protects high-end clients from assassins by impersonating them or by masquerading as someone close to them. Whilst he protects his clients close by his partners work to investigate and find the killer.
No, it isn’t really a sci-fi show but given the pilot stars Fringe’s Mark Valley as the bodyguard Christopher Chance, Battlestar Galactica’s Tricia Helfer as his client, Watchmen’s Jackie Earl Harley (aka Rorschach) as his kind-of partner and given that it takes place on a fictional but futuristic speed train, the pilot qualifies for a write up. It’s also been a long while since an action series has entertained me so that’s another good reason to give it some attention.
First, if you haven’t seen the trailer yet watch it now:
When I sat down to watch the finale of Battlestar Galactica, I did so with every intention of writing an indepth review at the end. As the finale unfolded, I forgot about my intention to review, forgot about the need to be attentive to detail and, fortunately, allowed myself to get lost in what was unfolding on screen. By the end of the episode I had been so overwhelmed with sadness, despair, happiness, loss and a host of emotions that once the episode was over there was no way I could contemplate writing a review. A few hours later when clarity was returning I decided the following four lines would constitute my entire review and then I would be done with it:
The credits rolled.
Superb.
The credits rolled.
Feeling sad. Many questions. It’s over. Feeling sad.
In the end however I decided to sleep on it.
When I woke up this morning, the first twitter message sitting in my direct message queue was “I’m interested in hearing your review of the finale.” At this point I felt if I was to write a review longer than four lines, I needed to watch the finale again. The co-writer of Watchmen, David Hayter, told me recently that “‘I really got it” when I said I hadn’t written a review of Watchmen because I felt I needed to see Watchmen many times to be able to understand everything that went into it if I was to do it justice. At first I felt this principle also applied to the finale of Battlestar, but in the end I decided it doesn’t.
You see, Battlestar Galactica is a story that carries with it an incredible depth, but it is one that is more character centric than plot. For this reason Battlestar, despite its mythology and complex philosophies, is more about feeling than thinking. It’s more about relating than the detail behind the relation. It is more about objective than the various steps necessary to get you there. Not everyone may want to see it this way, but the truth is everyone should try to, for this was the intention of its creators. Consider the characters first, and all the rest second. Just ask Ron Moore:
[By the midpoint of the season] we had revealed the origins of the final five, we had found the original Earth, we had dealt with all the backstories of people… there was a laundry list of things that were out of the way. Then it became about, what do we do in the finale and we started focusing on what is the story? What is the plot? It was clear it would be a rescue mission of Hera. Then we kind of got blacked out on the details of the assault, and what was the trick, and where were they going to jump in, and who was on what assault force — and this became very frustrating and annoying.
I went home and had an epiphany in the shower and said, “It’s the characters, stupid!” And it really always has been, and I went back the next day and said, “Let’s forget about the plot for a moment and just trust that it will work itself out, because it always does. What do we want the characters to deal with; let’s talk about the individual stories and resolutions.”
With this in mind, I decided to take a leaf out of Ron Moore’s book and just brainstorm notes on how I felt about elements of the finale and let the review sort itself out. Once done, I stared at my notes with the intention of turning them into a review, but the longer I stared the more I thought the review was already there – it didn’t need to be painstakingly rewritten into an essay.
The 2-hour epic finale of Battlestar Galactica played out on Friday night to an audience of 2.4 million viewers, said to be the show’s biggest audience in more than three years.
But here’s the amazing thing. Battlestar Galactica’s ratings were considerably less than either Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (3.7 million)or Dollhouse (4.1 million).
Having seen the episodes for all three, there is simply no way that Battlestar Galactica’s finalewas not superior in all respects. Don’t get me wrong, both Terminator and Dollhouse were great and I am in no way attempting to criticize either of them. I love watching both, especially Terminator. I am simply making the matter-of-fact statement that Friday night’s viewer count offers proof positive of why ratings are not entirely reflective of quality.
If ratings were reflective of quality, the viewer numbers of these three series would be turned upside down.
Legend of the Seeker is consistently enjoyable and this week’s episode, ‘Conversion’, further reinforced why I love this series. ‘Conversion’ was quite a pivotal episode for it was the first time in the series in which the Seeker (Craig Horner) comes face to face with his nemesis, Darken Rahl (Craig Parker). Whilst I want to jump straight into my opinion of this epic moment – and the amazing magic battle scene that followed it – first a story recap is necessary. There’s plenty of spoilers in this article, so if you haven’t seen this episode I recommend don’t read this article as it will ruin a great episode for you.
Synopsis:
We learned in episode 14 ‘Hartland’ that Chase’s family had been abducted and sent to the Keep of Edron. At the beginning of ‘Conversion’ we discover that an evil wizard named Giller is conducting experiments on the captives there, but Darken Rahl isn’t happy with Giller’s slow progress. Rahl sends word that he is personally heading to Edron to oversee Giller’s work.
Inside the Keep two D’Haran guards, Captain Ariakon and his nephew Brahm (I think that’s how you spell his name), are unhappy with Giller’s sadistic torture of innocent women and children. They discuss a plot to kill Rahl, believing because Rahl trusts Brahm he should be able to get close enough to put a dagger in his heart.
Unaware of Darken Rahl’s impending arrival, Richard hatches a plan to break into Edron under the cover of darkness. The plan works – they locate Chase’s imprisoned family and rescue all the captives, but a complication arises after Chase touches his wife and collapses under the spell of dark magic. They set out to find a healer but are intercepted by pursuing D’Haran soldiers dispatched from the Keep. A battle ensues during which Brahm is killed.
Captain Ariakon tells them they have killed their only chance to kill Rahl, and it is then that we learn the purpose of the Wizard Giller’s experiments – he is trying to make a Confessor. They realize Chase’s wife is afflicted with the side effects of Giller’s flawed experiment, and her distorted magical power has inadvertently afflicted Chase. Aware that Rahl is on his way to the Keep of Edron, Richard forms a plan to infiltrate it, end Giller’s experiments and fulfill the prophecy of killing Rahl.
As part of the plan, Kahlan poses as a prisoner, believing if she gets close enough to Giller she can confess him. She gets close enough, but when she touches Giller nothing happens – Giller is immune to her magic and Kahlan is captured. Giller tells Kahlan he has devised an elixir to protect him from Confessor magic and now that he has a Confessor captive he can use her to succeed with his mission – to bestow upon Rahl the power of a Confessor, so that he can turn anyone to his will. Darken Rahl uses magic to teleport to Edron where he learns of Kahlans capture.
The plan was to destroy the Keep of Edron with Rahl inside, and Ariakon wants to continue with the plan. Richard is unwilling to sacrifice Kahlan and going against Ariakon’s advice, he enters the Keep of Edron to rescue her alone. He manages to stop the detonation just in time, and it is here that he comes face to face with Darken Rahl in their first meeting of the series. En epic battle follows but Rahl emerges the victor and, with the help of a Mord Sith, Richard is captured.
Kahlan is horribly tortured as Giller inserts powerful needles into various part sof her body, needles that contain ancient magic that can extract her power. Rahl drinks the potion of confessor immunity. Rahl tells Richard he intends to confess him, so that the Seeker will serve him forever – a fate worse than death for Richard. Hearing this, Kahlan begins to shake uncontrollably and a rare and ancient magic called the Con Dar engulfs her. A Confessors power usually arises through love, but the Con Dar, known as the Blood Rage, is an even stronger power that finds its strength through vengeance and hate. During a Blood Rage a Confessor can wield immense power and take control of another without even touching them. She telekinetically pulls the needles from her body and hurls them like arrows at Giller killing him, then takes control of the minds of all the guards and Mord Sith in the room. She commands them to attack Rahl, and they immediately do so. Rahl defeats the guards easily but the Mord Sith wield the weapons of pain, the Agiel, and are more powerful. As Rahl battles a Mord Sith Kahlan commands another to free Richard. Rahl flees and Richard pursues. Just as Richard swings his sword at Rahl’s head, he teleports away.
Once recovered from the Blood Rage, Richard and Kahlan find there is one last potion of confessor immunity remaining, but rather than use it themselves, they decide to give it to Chase so that he can be with his wife.
Review:
This episode was simply fantastic. The first meeting between Richard and Rahl was no let down. In fact, I’d go as far as to say their battle was one of the best and most fierce sword battles seen on the small screen. Craig Horner and Craig Parker were superbly convincing as they fought, their war choreographed so well that it really looked like both men were hell bent on killing one another. As their fight unfolded I couldn’t help but be reminded of the Darth Vader/Luke Skywalker battle in Empire Strikes Back, only with swords instead of light sabers.
If I was to be picky, I could say the only flaw with the battle scene was right at its end, when Richard had finally disarmed Rahl. At this point for the briefest of seconds Richard has Rahl at the tip of his sword, but he doesn’t immediately run him through. I can’t understand why he would hesitate to kill Rahl in the moment he had him. That said, later when Rahl flees, Richard makes a serious attempt to cut his head off and although Rahl escapes, he does so with a nice gash to his face with which to remember the moment by. That moment sort of made up for the earlier hesitation.
Even without that final sword swipe at Rahl, any issue one might have with Richard’s earlier hesitation was easily overshadowed by Kahlans torture and Blood Rage scene. Also, had the Seeker not hesitated, we would also have missed out on the subsequent fight between Rahl and the Mord Sith who were under Kahlan’s mind control. It was an excellent moment to see Rahl standing between the two Mord Sith as they are driving their Agiel’s into him. Rahl’s power was demonstrated as he took both Agiel’s in either hand and turned them back against the Mord Sith. Episode 8 ‘Denna’ showed just how powerful the Agiel weapons are, so this in turn was a moment that showed just how powerful Rahl is. But clearly not as powerful as a blood raging Confessor!
I have to comment on Bridget Regan’s acting in this episode. During the torture scene she was absolutely superb. As she screamed in agony and tears streamed down her face I felt like I was witnessing an award winning actress do her thing – you could feel her pain. Then when the blood rage took hold the change in her expression and demeanour really was frightening. At this point the Wizard Giller exclaims, “The Blood Rage! Run my Lord” and with Regan’s impressive performance, you couldn’t help but think, yep, seriously, run.
Watching a scene out of context with a movie or episode never has the same impact, nonetheless I am compelled to post the Blood Rage scene for your enjoyment:
The Blood Rage scene with Kahlan and the sword fight battle between Richard and Rahl are now two of my favorite all time scenes. It was almost surprising that Kahlan’s scene was so damn cool that it was actually better than the epic moment when Richard and Rahl meet for the first time. With that in mind, how could I do anything but rate this episode as superb.
Finally, I would be remiss to review this episode and not comment on the soundtrack. Once again Joseph LoDuca’s music boosted the impact of every scene with music that was noticeable, not over bearing, but perfectly suited. When Richard, Kahlan and Chase break into the Keep of Edron LoDuca’s score briefly reminded me of James Horner’s Braveheart. I also particularly noticed his music during the Richard and Rahl sword fight where LoDuca’s choice of action score added just the right amount of extra tempo, and take notice of his excellent music in the Blood Rage scene clip above.
The score in a movie or television show is often underestimated by the casual viewer, yet more often than not the wrong choice of music can break what would otherwise be a great scene. Legend of the Seeker never has this problem thanks to LoDuca. His music to Legend of the Seeker is as important as Bear McCreary’s is to Battlestar Galactica. Anyone who reads my articles would be well aware of my opinion of Bear McCreary – and so that’s saying something.
Legend of the Seeker is a great series and is always enjoyable. As I write this ‘Conversion’ has a 9.6 rating on the IMDB and yes, I”ll go with that. ‘Conversion’ is now up there with ‘Denna’ as two of the best episodes so far.
Finding a decent review for this week’s episode of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles was like pulling teeth. It simply amazes me how many writers who claim to like science fiction on one hand will on the other happily tear strips off the shows they supposedly love.
I’m not saying if you’re a science fiction fan that you have to like everything you watch just because it’s sci-fi, but the latest episode of Terminator, ‘Today is the Day’, wasn’t bad television at all – it was hardly deserving of the drilling it received from so many reviewers. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I’m sure the 18% increase in viewer numbers the episode enjoyed might be a reflection that many others did too.
Fred over at TVoholic probably shares my view. He certainly shared my enjoyment of the episode and so his review is my best pick. From TVoholic:
This is very cool, the show keeps getting better and better, and the only really bad thing about it is that there aren’t many episodes left, and I’m not exactly sure that a third season really is something we should be counting on… But after focusing for a bit on Sarah and what was going on in her crazy mind, something not everyone appreciated, the show is back to its true form.
You can read Fred’s full review of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles 2.18 ‘Today is the Day’ here.
Despite the fact that it was difficult to find a reviewer that shared my opinion of the episode, there was one aspect that all reviewers most definitely agreed upon – they all liked Summer Glau’s classic line:
“Goodbye bird. There was a 51% chance I wouldn’t have killed you.”
The fifth episode of Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse has come and gone, and of all the reviews I read (and some that I suffered through) I couldn’t go past Charlie Jane Anders over at i09. I thought hers was a really great review and with a title like ‘Help Dollhouse Stop Inappropriate Erections!’, I knew it was going to make me laugh – and it did.
From io9:
There’s something strangely awesome about a show that advertises using nekkid women, and then devotes a huge chunk of an episode to the enterprise of turning a hunky man into a eunuch. Dollhouse spoilers ahoy!
Joss Whedon famously said that a movie is an answer, but a television show is a question. His first TV show, Buffy, asked pretty much the same question in every episode of its first season: can a young woman who’s called upon to save the world also have a normal life? But Dollhouse has managed to ask a new (and weird) question with each episode. You may not have liked all the questions it’s asked so far, but at least it’s stayed lively.
Now that we’ve thankfully moved beyond the first five episodes of Dollhouse, we’re less than a week away from episode 6 ‘Man on the Street’. Whilst so far it has done nothing but receive lukewarm reviews (at best) and as questions continue to hang over its future, this is the episode Joss Whedon has been telling fans to tune into – this is the one that will apparently turn opinions around. Here’s the promo:
Michall: 
molie78: 
Jonathan: 
Pagrin: 
LaNae: 
Geoff: 
anger: 
luke: 
Edd: 
Ozzy: 
