2010

Starring: Gerard Butler and Jennifer Aniston

Written by: Sarah Thorp

Directed by: Andy Tennant

I can’t muster up enough enthusiasm one way or another about this film to be honest – and that’s almost worse than having a negative review. At least with a negative review it stirred something, it made it’s mark. This film is a TBS Saturday flick that you might choose to watch if absolutely nothing else is on. But you’re not buying the DVD.

2010

Starring: John Cusack, Rob Corddry, Craig Robinson, Clark Duke, Collette Wolf, Lizzy Caplan, Kellee Stewart, and Chevy Chase

Written by: Josh Heald, Jarrad Paul, and Sean Anders

Directed by: Steve Pink

Ok if you don’t know what kind of film this is going to be just by the title, than you might as well not even bother watching it. I don’t know the evolution of this film or if it started out even semi-serius at any given time, but at some point the filmmakers, etc. just realized how silly it was and instead of trying to make it something it wasn’t just completely embraced the fact and went completely over the top with it.

2009

Starring: Heath Ledger, Christopher Plummer, Verne Troyer, Lily Gold, Andrew Garfield, Tom Waits, and Johnny Depp, Clive Owen, and Jude Law

Written by: Terry Gilliam and Charles McKeown

Directed by: Terry Gilliam

I want to start this off just praising Terry Gilliam’s brilliance. In a world full of drab, cliched storytelling with the same old actors doing the same story with little twists, when you see a Terry Gilliam film, you know you are going to see something different and creative. This is certainly not Gilliam’s best films but it is a step back up after the more pedestrian (for him) Brothers’ Grimm.

2010

Starring: Sam Worthington, Gemma Arterton, Mads Mikkelsen, Alexa Davalos, Danny Huston, Pete Postelthwaite, Ralph Fiennes, and Liam Neeson

Written by: Lawrence Kasdan, Travis Beacham, Phil Hay, and Matt Manfredi

Directed by: Louis Leterrier

I finally got around to it. Readers of mine noted that I watched and reviewed the original in preparation of going to see this version…well it finally happened. And I’m honestly glad I waited. I had been hyped and then after a bit of bashing and critical scarring, I feel I was in a better place to watch the film.

2009

Starring: Michael Cera, Portia Doubleday, Jean Smart, Mary Kay Place, Fred Willard, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Long, Ray Liotta, and Steve Buscemi

Written by: Gustin Nash and C.D. Payne (who wrote the original novel)

Directed by: Miguel Arteta

Michael Cera always seems to play Michael Cera (or given that I don’t know him, the same type of character he always plays) and this is the second Nick he’s played. So you always know what kind of film you’re going to get. A nerdy kid who can’t get laid in some kind of coming of age story. The most important question than is how.

- Good chemistry between Claudia and Eureka guest star Dr. Fargo who showed up to give the Warehouse 13 security system an overhaul

- Probably the best straight episode of the series

- Cool seeing a slight shakeup with Claudia and Myka going out on a mission and letting Pete recover from last episode

- Fun to see Pete and Myka switch bodies and have the actors attempt to be each other while in their own bodies. McClintock owns Kelly though as his Myka in Pete’s body was downright hilarious and spot on. She was okay, but not as perfect as his.

Written by: R.A. Salvatore

R.A. Salvatore has long been a fantasy favorite, so it was interesting to see him at the helm of a space adventure. Of course Star Wars has always been more fantasy than science fiction. And he succeeds. He takes almost of all the weaknesses in Lucas’ script and is able to flesh them out to give them the depth that the film never quite achieves.

Written by Terry Bisson

There are books aimed at younger readers and then there are just young reader books. Jedi Apprentice and Jedi Quest for example were both written to include younger readers but you never felt as if they were excluding an older audience. Not so much with these stories.

Written by: Terry Bisson

After getting over the stumbling block of defining everything and reaching out to the younger readers, the series takes a bit of a better spin.

Perhaps it helps to have gotten the exposition of a younger viewed version of Episode II out of the way, but watching the newly orphaned Boba Fett muddle around on his own is certainly interesting. Far from the perfect bounty hunter we originally met in Empire Strikes Back, Boba is young, somewhat naive, and certainly not up to task.

Written by: Elizabeth Hand

One thing I will say is that the difference between Hand and Bisson is so minute that you don’t notice that an author change has taken place. The writing styles are that similar. But that’s not a bad thing. Bisson got the series over the hump before turning over the reins to the capable hands of Hand.

Written by: Alan Dean Foster

1980

Starring: Sam Jones, Melody Anderson, Chaim Topol, Timothy Dalton, Brian Blessed, and Max Van Sydow

Written by: Michael Allin and Lorenzo Semple, Jr. based on characters created by Alex Raymond

Directed by: Mike Hodges

Myka in a dress – Hot.
Pete and Myka’s slowly building relationship – not too quickly, but enough there dangling to make you know it’s developing.
Claudia’s very awkward “relationship” with town geek. It’s cute, and necessary for her character so she doesn’t grow stagnant.
Throwaway artifacts and explanations such as Excalibur and how Arthur got it out of the stone, and the Original Ray’s Pizza location.

2010

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Kingsely, Mark Ruffalo, Michelle Williams, Jackie Earle Haley, and Max Von Sydow

Written by: Laeta Kalogridis and Steven Knight based on Dennis Lehane’s novel

Directed by: Martin Scorcese

Martin Scorcese is perhaps America’s greatest living director and Shutter Island is an example of why this is so. The fact is simply that the film’s storyline would have been newish about 10 years ago. In a psychological thriller that owes much to Fight Club and the Sixth Sense, the story these days is fairly predictable enough to a point. Sure there are details the audience doesn’t get, but it’s pretty simple from the beginning.

Starring: Bruce Willis, Tracy Morgan, Sean William Scott, Kevin Pollack, Adrien Brody, and Jason Lee

Written by: Mark and Robb Cullen

Directed by: Kevin Smith

Funny enough that I review this directly after Shutter Island. Funny because I feel that this film is yet another example of what a director can bring to the table to elevate an otherwise mediocre piece. Cop Out is a film that is again nothing new. It’s a traditional 80s buddy-cop film with a few twists and turns to make it a bit different. But nostalgia certainly runs wild.

written by: Christie Golden

Finally something happens and yet…Golden finds a way to make it seem like not a whole heckuva lot. Nothing personally against Ms. Golden, but after reading two of her books, I hope she is taken out of the next Star Wars arc rotation. She just doesn’t have what it takes in writing an engaging Star Wars novel.

Finally we get to learn why we don’t see Yaddle (the female of Yoda’s species) after Episode I. Because she dies in duty to save the Chosen One. That’s fairly significant.

The story begins with the Jedi having to travel to a planet that is in anarchy. The government is overthrown and taking it’s place are a few factions of gangs. Two criminals and one freedom fighter of sorts control the planet and enforce their rule by fear as they battle each other. The Jedi are sent to try to bring order to the planet before the Senate sends in troops to protect whatever provisional government can be established.

This was a typical Jedi Quest book with a few exceptions. It had some major reveals, and yet it seemed a bit tame and over with very quickly. There was definitely some cool wow factors. For example, we learn where the gundark line from Episode II comes from -a nice tie in to the films. I really like when Watson does that as it does seem like more of a streamlined universe rather than separate stories. Furthermore we get to see more of the villains, especially the return of Jenna Zan Arbor from the Jedi Apprentice series.

This was a fun tale in comparison to the more tired tale of last book. A tale of deception, intrigue, and rivarly. In a good move it allows Anakin and Ferus to work together in a more friendlier manner as if the two had come to an accord of sorts. The storyline moves briskly. The Jedi have tracked down Zan Arbor to the planet of Romin, which has become a haven for criminals to ensconce themselves on due to the political maneuvering of leader Roy Teda.

Quite possibly my favorite book in the series, and perhaps all of Watson’s Star Wars work. It mixes a bit of everything. Intrigue, politics, action, Anakin’s descent and importantly ties itself into the films as a whole. All of these supplemental novels for me should have one basic throughline – filling in the gaps of Anakin’s descent.

Another fine effort from Watson as we conclude the Jedi Quest novels. We are left at the end with Anakin having burned most of his Jedi friend ties and facing an uncertain future. Obi-Wan is his only friend left due to his own inability to stifle his competitve nature. When Ferus is the first selected to to accelerate his trials and become a full Jedi, Anakin is outraged and any civility they might have gained ended.

The show which really found it’s groove towards the end of the season starts off with a strong episode filled with twists, turns, and irreverance
that truly helped make the show successful. We pick up right where season 1 ended, with Artie caught in an explosion set by MacPherson as he escaped with help from the mind controlled Leena.

Ok, it’s time to surrender. If this series has always given a special nod towards geeks, this episode it does away with any pretenses and just becomes an all out homage to it’s
biggest fanbase…the geek.

The bad news. It’s really more of a filler which makes two filler episodes in a row with no real mention of HG Wells and the overall arc. The good news is that it’s still a fairly entertaining if not exactly necessary viewing episode.

2010

Starring the voices of: Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Russell Brand, Julie Andrews, Will Arnett, Kristen Wiig, and Miranda Cosgrove

Written by: Ken Daurio and Cinco Paul

Directed by: Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud – Co Directed by: Sergio Pablos

Well lookie here. We have a new contender to wedge themselves in the animation world. Far outstripping Dreamworks’ Shrek, and able to at least play ball with Pixar’s Toy Story 3, Illumination Studios’ Despicable Me is a shining success. Most likely because it borrows somewhat from Pixar and mixes it a bit with Looney Tunes, giving it a heartwarming side, combined with a highly humorous side as well.

Written by: Jude Watson

Jude Watson has done a great job exploring the Star Wars Universe culture by going to many different worlds and seeing many different galactic activities all the while trying to slowly bring Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi along on their journey towards where we see them in Episodes II and III. This story is no different as we see the galaxy far far away’s equivalent of the Olympics. Something that absolutely should happen but you don’t think much about it happening, until Watson brings it up.

Written by: Jude Watson

Anakin Skywalker’s education continues as we find out more about the mysterious Granta Omega…eventually. As Anakin gets older we need to see a bit more tension between Obi-Wan and Anakin but more importantly we need to see that Anakin is able to be seduced even if it is for the right reasons.

Granta is the first time we see Anakin interacting with a less overt and instead much more charismatic form of evil. Showing shades of Palpatine, Granta befriends Anakin (even if it’s under an alias) so that by the time he is revealed, Anakin has conflicted emotions.

Written by: Jude Watson

I’m surprised it took me this long, but I can be slow at times…This series is not about Anakin Skywalker and really more about Obi-Wan. If you connect the series with the earlier Jedi Apprentice series it is a long drawn out arc of how Obi-Wan got from a youngling in the Jedi Temple to the master of Anakin Skywalker that we meet again in Episode 2.

2010

Starring the voices of: Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy, Antonio Banderes, Julie Andrews and Walt Drohn

Written by: Josh Klausner and Darren Lemke based on the books by William Stieg

Directed by: Mike Mitchell

While pondering the review of this film, I couldn’t find anything particularly bad to bash. But I also couldn’t find much good to praise either. In fact if I had to pick one word to describe the film? Tired. That’s just how it felt. It was ok, but it felt ragged or as Bilbo Baggins would say like butter spread over too much bread

2009

Starring: Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, and Taylor Lautner

Written by: Melissa Rosenberg based on the novel by Stephenie Meyer

Directed by: Chris Weitz

Awful. Just awful. Boring, tepid, limp. Little characterization, little movement, and very little plot. The whole film has one good performance, one somewhat semi-tantalizing aspect, and one semi-interesting plot point. The rest is garbage on just about every level.

2010

Starring: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Ashley Judd, Julie Andrews, Billy Crystal, Brandon T. Jackson, Ryan Sheckler, and Stephen Merchant

Written by: Lowell Ganz, Babaloo Mandel, Randi Mayem Singer, Joshua Sternin, and Jeffrey Ventimilla

Directed by: Michael Lembeck

Fueled by The Rock’s undeniable charm and charisma and some nice performances by Stephen Merchant, Julie Andrews, and Billy Crystal, the film is…a nice film. It’s not going to ever be considered a classic, nor will it light any film lists on fire. But it’s not bad.