Being a child of the late 60s/early 70s, I am an old school Scooby-Doo fan. You couldn’t get me up early during the week to go to school, but you can bet I was up at the crack of dawn on Saturday morning to watch my cartoons. Scooby was always a favorite because it combined the wacky antics of Scooby, Shaggy and the gang with my other favorite things — ghosts and monsters, except not as scary as those old movies that I loved but scared me to death! Of course, the supernatural characters on Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? were always some no-goodnik trying to get way with some crime that was always foiled by “those meddling kids.”

Scooby and the gang became entrenched in pop culture, spawning a variety of different series, a run of Scooby-Doo movies featuring animated guest stars like The Addams Family, Sonny & Cher, Phyllis Diller, The Three Stooges, The Harlem Globetrotters and many more. The idea of the “Scooby Gang” even carried over to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The character has been kept alive on Cartoon Network/Boomerang and through a series of direct-to-video movies. Our own Kim Tibbs reviewed last year’s Scooby-Doo! WrestleMania Mystery, which was released on DVD and Blu-ray. And now Scooby and the gang are back in Moon Monster Madness.

It’s usually never a good sign when a familiar character ends up going into space, an environment totally alien, literally, to the original concept (look at the alternately reviled/adored Jason X as an example). Take a character who spends most of the time solving earthbound mysteries and putting them on the moon to solve another mystery really stretches the concept, especially when the new city on the moon is basically just a stand-in for an earthly haunted house. But that’s what we have with Scooby-Doo! Moon Monster Madness.

The basic plot has the Scooby gang winning a lottery to be the first civilians to fly with an egotistical Richard Branson type, Sly Baron, and a crew of professionals on a new spacecraft meant to usher in commercial space travel for the masses. Unfortunately, an alien starts to destroy the ship and they are forced to land on Baron’s moon base on the dark side of the moon (ZOINKS!), but the alien is not finished with them. Is the alien an advance scout for a possible invasion of earth … or is there something, or someone, else behind the attack?

Ridley Scott said that Alien was basically a haunted house movie in space, and Scooby-Doo! Moon Monster Madness is just that. The moon base is simply a stand-in for the house and the alien is the typical ghost or monster that is trying to run the owners out. And if you know your Scooby-Doo lore, you will have to question whether the alien is even real especially with the red herrings of key characters always off screen during an alien attack. Could it be Sly Baron himself, or one of the other astronauts? You know those meddling kids will find out the truth.

The movie may not appeal to original Scooby fans, but a new generation not familiar with the old haunted house stories will most likely be dazzled by the sci-fi elements and animation. It should be noted, however, that very young children may be disturbed by some of the imagery, especially as the alien stalks Scooby and Shaggy, and during a sequence when each member of the group tells how they would avert an alien invasion. The animation goes very stylized at that point, with some videogame-style destruction and violence. The story also introduces a very intense rivalry between Daphne and Velma, and really paints Fred as a total doofus who never takes off his spacesuit or helmet, even inside the moon base!

What the movie does have going for it is the smooth, colorful animation (and it’s a shame Warner Bros. didn’t feel the need to release this one on Blu-ray) and the familiarity of the voice cast. Frank Welker returns as the voices of Fred (he originated the role back in 1969!) and Scooby, with Mindy Cohn doing a great approximation of the original Velma voice and Matthew Lillard reprising the role of Shaggy, which he did so well in the live-action movies. Guest voice talent includes Malcolm McDowell, Diedrich Bader and Mark Hamill.

The DVD also includes the short Space Travel Is Groovy hosted by Mindy Cohn. Cohn takes us behind the scenes at Space Camp to see how rockets are launched and space shuttles fly and land (although this is a bit dated now since the space shuttle program is no more). Everything is very simplified for the younger viewer, so adults may find the whole thing a bit tedious. But still, who doesn’t want to go to Space Camp?!

Scooby-Doo! Moon Monster Madness may be a good way to introduce a new generation to the simple joys of Scooby-Doo.

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided a DVD to CliqueClack for review. The film is available on DVD and as a Digital HD download.

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SyFy’s Dominion has developed a strong cult following in its first season. While initial reviews from critics were not that positive, the show has found its niche and turned out a strong narrative. While the show was based on the feature film Legion, Dominion has established its own story than fans are eating up. We sat down with Alan Dale (General Riesen), Anthony Stewart Head (David Whele), Chris Egan (Alex Lannon), Roxanne McKee (Claire Riesen) and show creator Vaughn Wilmott, and this is what we learned (Beware, there are some spoilers for tonight’s finale):

The focus on Anthony Stewart Head’s accent has been a surprise

While there has been a great deal of focus on Anthony Stewart Head’s American accent in the show, we were reminded several times that the cast is internationally diverse (and not just from hearing them speak). Dale says that for non-Americans, “if you haven’t picked up an American accent, then you’re not very good with accents.” But Head isn’t bothered by the talk, and likes how the character was constructed. “I could have taken the easy way out and make him a bit of a redneck, but I wanted him to be urbane and smooth.”

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbT8gS-JWpQ

Reviews, damn reviews, and Twitter

After the initial critical response, Dale was doubtful about the show’s chances. The screeners sent out “didn’t have the special effects in them, and the critics gave us a really tough time.”  He thought that the show was done.

But the fan response has been surprising. While the numbers aren’t earth-shattering, they’re not bad either. The cast attributes some of the show’s popularity to social media, and the live-tweets they do for each episode. “It’s been really quite amazing,” said Dale. “I love interacting with the fans, tweeting out pics and luckily the cast is really willing to jump in every week.”

Alan Dale doubts General Riesen will die of a heart attack

While General Riesen is suffering from a pretty serious heart condition, he believes he’s fairly safe. Dale kidded, saying that if we looked in the Guinness Book of World Records, we’d find his picture next to the entry about “Most heart attacks on television.” He’s suffered heart attacks on several shows, including The OC and Ugly Betty. The producers have assured him that if and when he dies, it will be a violent death. But not ever promise can be kept, ‘ya know.

Alex Lannon was not ready for the life he was thrust into

“Alex is trying to figure it out; he doesn’t like it.” He had a plan for what was going to happen next in his life, and these events have turned that upside down. Egan says that the character is finally beginning to accept his role, though he doesn’t think he truly understands it. He likens it to stages of grief: “The anger, rejection and then coming to that stage of acceptance. Each episode has that stage, that I wanted to make as real as possible in this other-worldly world we’ve created.”

But he is beginning to see the advantages … or power … that comes with the distinction. Egan pointed to the episode that had aired last week, where he tried to save Claire’s mother, as proof that he was stepping into it.

Claire Riesen is a much different character

McKee respects the choices that Claire has to make. “I would hope to have the rationale that Claire has. She is doing something for the greater good, and I think she believes that though her heart is telling her to run away and be in New Delphi with Alex, the most important thing to do is to help the masses.” She’s not so sure, however, that she could do the same in her life

The first season of Dominion has been a coming of age story for Claire in many ways, as the character discovers who she is morally. “Throughout the series she learns to manipulate … for the greater good, for what she believes is the best situation.” But as that evolution occurs, we see that Claire is flawed, and while she wants to be as innocent as we found her in the Pilot, she likes the power she is exposed to.

Not all of that change, however, has to do with power. McKee referred to the killing of her mother’s inhabited body as an emotional moment for the character, “she lost her innocence … there is no going back, and she feels that Alex is a part of that pain.”

Enter Dominion fills out the story’s mythos nicely

Much of the material was written in advance, building out the world and the mythos of the show. When it came to the site, though, the staff writers put a lot of effort into filling out the world and writing the prose on the site. Wilmott was proud of the writers, but also of the site’s designers, and the decisions made by the team. He particularly likes how the something new is unlocked each week. Wilmott says that “the site does a nice job filling in those details” so that he can avoid long monologue expositions scenes.

There is a little bit of Kings’ David in Dominion‘s Alex

There are similarities between the two roles. Alex “is kind of like David on ecstasy.” But he sees Alex as someone who has grown more than David had, and has had to make some tough decisions. “[Alex] is so over it he wants out; but he has to grow up and accept the destiny, or accept who he is as a man. I think we all go though that journey in our life where we come though that stage, not like sink-or-swim, but you’re either on this side of the fence or you’re not.” It sounds like Alex isn’t done making those hard choices.

Wilmott says that there is a lot of grey in the characters by design, and that Alex is probably the “most true.” “I’m interested in characters that when they do evil things, we may be appalled or turned off by, but we can kind of understand their point of view.” But while Alex might be better off than many, “there are shades of darkness in him, and if we’re lucky enough to get more seasons, I think we’ll see a lot more of those shades.”

Counsul Weil is a decidedly un-Giles like character

After kidding with us on what a Giles-version of Weil would be – there were references to drinking tea and constantly cleaning his glasses – Head spoke like he’s been looking for more heel-ish roles since Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He referenced Warehouse 13 and Merlin, saying that Uther was a bit of an asshole, but he was one because he had to be. He sees the same in this character:

“David Weil has done a few fairly despicable things, but … he didn’t kill Bixby easily; he had a little bit of a pain, but it had to be done.” Weil tells himself he is doing things for the good of Vega, and the survivor instinct that all of these characters inherently have (to still be alive) shapes him a good deal as well.

Plans for season two and beyond

While SyFy hasn’t – as of this writing – picked up Dominion for a second season, the production team is already planning. “Season two is really going to be shaped out by the choices that are made in the finale.” Wilmott says that a pickup announcement could be made within the next couple of weeks, but he couldn’t say for sure. The show’s series bible was a 40-page document that detailed the first three seasons, so there is a solid road map on what is to come.

So what happens next?

One of the main characters isn’t going to make it through this season. Wilmott: “At the end of the season, we’re going to have someone not make it out, one of our main characters is going to die.” Also? Gabriel is going to be visiting Vega himself. Are those two things related? I’m guessing yes.

“Some shit’s going down,” teases Head.

Joss Whedon seems to be a popular subject these days. I recently reviewed an academic work on his art (Reading Joss Whedon), but I don’t think there’s a need to go through his history again here to explain his appeal. Suffice it to say, this is a creator that has always interacted with his fans and appreciated them. From days in internet forums when Buffy the Vampire Slayer had a cadre of loyal fans to last years Firefly anniversary panel at San Diego Comic-Con where he broke down publicly in tears, nerds love Joss Whedon because he seems like he feels the same way about us. Well, and he creates some awesome stuff too. This new biography, Joss Whedon: The Biography from first time author Amy Pascale, covers everything you could possibly expect from the life of the nerd king. The book comes in over 400 pages and actually covers more years than his life, but that’s explained easily enough.

The biography begins after a heartfelt foreword from Whedon’s friend and collaborator Nathan Fillion, and then begins to explain how Joss became Joss. Apparently his parents both were involved in art in various ways, and his mother involved specifically in feminist activism. It’s easy to see the point the biography is making: this is where he gets it from. There’s a common motif of “strong female characters” throughout the book, which has been something Joss has explicitly talked about many times. There’s a bit here Joss’ childhood, but where it gets legitimately interesting is when he begins to work in Hollywood and experiences his first failures and triumphs. Utilizing interviews with producers, actors, friends, and Joss himself, the biography tells the story of Whedon’s unlikely rise to one of the most successful directors in the industry. From his work on the Toy Story script to Alien: Resurrection, each failure and success is demonstrated to build to the next one. A bit slow at first, but then the reader gets quickly drawn into this unlikely story.

I found this book a very engaging read; although it’s a bit slow to get going, the pace gets quick and the material is jam-packed with all sorts of behind the scenes trivia. Recently a letter from Tom Hiddleston to Joss shown in the biography has gone a bit viral online, but for me it was more interesting to read about how the death of Joss’ mother influenced on his views on art. I would guess that people unfamiliar with specific works of his, like his work on Astonishing X-Men, may find those parts dull or unimportant. But I think the book achieves in its goal, to show how each piece of Whedon’s life led inexorably towards him succeeding beyond anyone’s wildest dreams with the extreme box office of The Avengers, the second (or third, I haven’t yet seen Guardians of the Galaxy as of writing this review) best Marvel movie. If you want to know what Joss really thought about his Wonder Woman script but know that Warner Bros will never let you read the actual script, that’s the sort of balance fan perspective that’s ideal for a reader. I think it’s interesting that a biography was written about an artist with plenty still left to do, but it did mean that many people could be interviewed about it.

Perhaps that means an update will needed after Avengers: Age of Ultron or whatever comes after that. Here, Amy Pascale has written an interesting, well-written take on the life and art of Joss Whedon; any true fan should take a look.

Joss Whedon: The Biography is currently available for sale. This review was based on a promotional copy provided to CliqueClack by the Chicago Review Press for the purposes of review.

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Writing academically on culture is nothing new; scholars have written seriously about movies for decades, and even television has been seriously analyzed in such works as The Revolution Was Televised by Alan Sepinwall. But usually it’s on those common targets like Steven Spielberg or Orson Welles, more of the “high” culture targets and not so much on popular or cultish art except to decry its worth in modern society or be dismissive in general. Joss Whedon is an interesting focus for a work, as he started as a very obscure artist, just a well known writer within the screenwriting industry working to fix up scripts (although his notes were often ignored).

His show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a switchup of the critically and commercially hated movie of the same name, gained him many fervent fans, though a relatively small amount. Soon enough he had gained enough success to create the Angel spinoff, which was a moderate success, and then the beloved Firefly, which was cancelled after one season but it is still considered one of the finest seasons of television ever by its rabid fanbase. After another cancelled show (Dollhouse) and online movie (Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog), Joss was brought into the domain of Marvel comics, writing an excellent run of comics (Astonishing X-Men) and being hired to write and direct their ambitions movie The Avengers. Somehow that movie made a billion dollars, so now Whedon is a household name.

Reading Joss Whedon is a collection of scholarly essays on Whedon’s various works, some specific to one work and others analyzing ideas and themes over several. As in any collection, the quality is mixed, from excellent and engrossing to dry and dogmatic. But you won’t get anything else out there with this level of research and analysis, so the benefits of reading those gems outweighs the downsides of skipping the less interesting essays. The book is edited primarily by Rhonda V. Wilcox with help from Tanya R. Cochran, Cynthea Masson, and David Lavery. Wilcox and Cochran also wrote books on specific Whedon works, including Investigating Firefly and Serenity, which I quite enjoyed. One thing that I found particularly good in this collection was the level of research done, collating together disparate interviews, books, movies, and television episodes to convey fascinating insight. There were a few pieces that were exceptionally dry and primarily listing bits of episodes in simplistic ways, but those can easily be dismissed.

I had a few favorite pieces in the collection, including Hero’s Journey, Heroine’s Return by Janet K. Halfyard on Buffy and the Orpheus myth, connecting the classical Greek tale with the allusions in the show. Similarly, the myths of Echo and Narcissus were addressed in Reflections in the Pool by K. Dale Koontz, which addressed the male gaze in Dollhouse and the meanings behind the names of the various characters. I always enjoy a bit of meta-analysis, so Problematic Storytelling in Buffy the Vampire Slayer by Richard Albright was fascinating to me, seeing how storytelling is utilized in the show and sometimes intentionally mangled for various reasons. As one of the few that didn’t hate the controversial season five episode of Angel “The Girl in Question,” What the Hell? by Cynthea Mason on defending it finally gave me something I could use to buttress against the hate. And of course, the piece on The Cabin in the Woods was great, as were all of the essays on Firefly and Serenity, but perhaps I’m biased in that regard.

I would’ve liked to see a bit more on The Avengers, which only got one piece I didn’t think was that insightful, and anything at all on Astonishing X-Men, which I loved, although I recognize it’s the least famous of Whedon’s stuff. Still, this is an excellent book for the Whedon fans and intellectuals alike; for every essay you don’t understand, there should be two that’ll give you new understanding into his work and its impact on culture.

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Agents of SHIELD did pretty damn well in its premiere last week. ABC touted its 12.12 million viewers as the best primetime drama premiere since V’s 2009 bow (However, I seem to remember Elementary doing quite well last year, and so does that show’s Wikipedia page). Regardless, any new pilot’s second episode is going to be a much more accurate picture of what the show is going to be. Tonight’s ratings will be equally important; how many people like what they saw and came back for more?

Update: The Fast Overnights are in: SHIELD 8.4 million viewers, down 30% from last week’s 11.9 (both numbers unadjusted). It also lost 26% of its 4.6 share, falling to 3.4. Last year, the only show ABC picked up for its second season, Nashville, lost 25% of its overall viewership from week one to week two.

The marketing got in the way of everything the show’s creative team has been saying from day one. Joss Whedon has compared SHIELD to the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode “The Zeppo,” which followed Xander on his own adventure, concurrent with a mission that Buffy and the more powerful Scoobies were fulfilling. While being connected to it, SHIELD is mostly going to stand alone from the movies – Sam Jackson’s cameo tonight notwithstanding. For it to be successful, it’s going to have to … but only if audiences don’t skip town before realizing what the show is can be really great.

It is obvious that we are working towards these six individuals becoming the makeshift family that is the touchstone of most of Whedon’s work. But the familiarity with his previous work could become a negative. If Firefly was about solving crimes in a world with superheroes, it would be called Agents of SHIELD. I scoffed at the similarities between Coulson’s “Bus” and Serenity last week, but “0-8-4”’s deeper exploration of the plane makes them harder to ignore. Much more important, though, are the similarities between the crew. There’s no 1-to-1 analogy between the individual characters, but the soul of one is readily apparent in the other.

Notes & Quotes

• “And technically, Skye’s a member of the Rising Tide. She hacked our RSA implementation.” – Ward
  “Twice. On a laptop. Imagine what she she’ll do with our resources.” – Coulson
  “I am. That’s exactly what I’m imagining during this frown.” – Ward
• OK … we’re now on the third “Tahiti/It’s a magical place” bit. Maybe those theories that Tahiti really is a magical place aren’t that far off the mark – or it is to be a big red herring.
• “Usually, one person doesn’t have the solution. But 100 people? With 1% of the solution? That will get it done.” – Skye
• To that guy I got into an argument on reddit a couple of weeks ago about the likelihood of Sam Jackson showing up, I concede, random-internet-guy, your rightness and my wrongness. Bastard.
• In certain circles, there has been a bit of a discussion on whether or not the show and organization should be referred to as SHIELD or S.H.I.E.L.D. For a couple of reasons, most of which don’t really matter to most folks, we are going with the former.

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We don’t see a lot of Shakespeare these days, except in the derivative storytelling sense, of course. Yes, there was the terrible 2011 movie Anonymous that claimed ol’ Willie didn’t write a bit of it, and the barely seen 2012’s Coriolanus and this year’s Warm Bodies, which was very loosely based on Romeo and Juliet. But every year there’s usually at least one, even if they aren’t widely seen. Impressive stuff for an author that hasn’t written anything new in 400 years. I suppose those themes and characters are still resonating with people even today, despite the language barrier we all faced reading those book in high school. By my troth, there’s an awful lot of antiquated colloquialisms in those plays. But the words are one thing; not everyone can pull off a Shakespearean monologue believably. On the other hand, some people totally can.

Much Ado About Nothing is an adaptation of the play by the same name from Shakespeare, this time by not terrible director Joss Whedon. I hadn’t read the play or seen the Kenneth Branagh version (I think that guy has adapted more Shakespeare plays than were actually written), so my perspective is one familiar with the parlance of the day, but not the precise material. So at first I was lost, confused by who was whom and what was going on. But that soon changed. It’s all vaguely in a modern day, although considering that no words are changed, it does seem a bit anachronistic, probably by design. And boy, this movie is filled with Joss Whedon regulars and favorites. We begin in Messina with Beatrice (Amy Acker from Whedon’s The Cabin in the Woods, Dollhouse, and Angel), niece to Leonato, the governor of Messina (Clark Gregg from The Avengers), which I guess is where they’re supposed to be, alongside cousin Hero (newcomer Jillian Morgese who just had an uncredited role in The Avengers that led to this casting). Hero is a girl, by the way, which is obvious when you watch the movie but perhaps not from the name. All are in a kerfuffle because of the impending arrival of Don Pedro (Reed Diamond from Dollhouse), prince of Aragon, with his entourage a-coming. Among these are two important people, Benedick (Alexis Denisof from — deep breath – Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Dollhouse, and a hidden role in The Avengers), who has a longstanding war of words with Beatrice, and Claudio (Fran Kranz from Dollhouse and The Cabin in the Woods), who immediately falls in love with Hero. Yes, a bit cliched, but that’s par for the course for these sorts of stories.

Of course, a series of comic misunderstandings and tragedies follow quickly, as might be expected. But come on, with bumbling constable Dogberry (Nathan Fillion from Buffy, Firefly, and Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog) on the case, how won’t they discover the evil machinations of Don Pedro’s evil brother Don John (Sean Maher from Firefly)? It’s one of Shakepeare’s comedies, which usually means nobody dies and everyone gets married (as opposed to tragedies, where everybody dies). Whether or not that happens this time I won’t spoil, although the story has actually been spoiled for about 400 years. Obviously the writing is good here, so the question becomes simple: How well was it pulled off? The movie does look good, shot in black and white and claustrophobically filmed inside an LA house (I wonder whose house it was? Spoiler: It was Joss Whedon’s). The acting is certainly excellent across the board, but some people manage it a bit better than others. Reed Diamond is a bit stiff at times and Alexis Denisof’s line readings are occasionally a tad stilted. But he has amazing chemistry with Amy Acker, who is just fantastic, subtle, hilarious, and emotional at precisely the right moments. For the other couple, both are superb; Jillian Morgese makes wonders of the simplistic maiden and Fran Kranz is affecting and heart-pulling as the noble youth who believes in true love. Of course, I can’t forget Nathan Fillion, who is quite amusing indeed.

Gee, what a surprise. Above all, these people are having boatloads of fun here, and there’s no question how much Whedon adores the material and the cast in equal measures. Everyone gets their moment to shine, and although it takes a bit of time to get into, and the story itself seems a bit dated at times (can’t be helped), there’s no question that this is just a fun, classy movie that’ll make you feel great afterwards. By my troth, I am off!

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For everyone who watched the abysmally terrible G.I. Joe film, Rise of the Cobra (2009), worry not. G.I. Joe: Retaliation redeems itself admirably. Directed by Jon Chu and written by Zombieland writers Rhett Rheese and Paul Wernick, Retaliation returns the film to a more realistic version of its 1980s cartoon origins while dropping the first film’s hideous foolishness. The mind-washed Baronness? Gone.  An inane romp through Paris? Finito. Marlon Wayans? Nary a site.

In lieu of 2009’s overgrown male child’s fantasy complete with convoluted plots and cartoon-ish characters, Rheese, Wernick and Chu ground the sequel in contemporary reality by focusing on the Joe task force as an elite U.S.-based anti-terrorist squadron — what the first film SHOULD HAVE DONE, but DIDN’T. Instead of creating “fun,” “new” characters for no reason, the film returns to established canonical Joes like Roadblock, Lady Jaye and Flint while upgrading their personalities. On a 1980s faithfulness scale, special effects scale, acting scale, and plot scale, the film did well. Although it didn’t knock each category out of the ball park, it was leaps ahead of the first offering, with a well-plotted script that tied up lose ends. In fact, I enjoyed it so much I’m shocked this didn’t serve as a summer entry.

1980s Nostalgia: Yay or Nay?  

As a child of the 1980s my favorites included Lady Jaye, Roadblock, Flint, Snake Eyes, and the gentle medic. So, of course, I squeed in my pants when they chose my favorites for the second film. While Lady Jaye and Flint skewed older in my childhood mind (early 30s), in the film they felt younger (mid-early twenties). Although Lady Jaye’s still a specialist in the film, Flint isn’t Duke’s rock-hard right-hand man. Instead, he’s a hothead who can’t stop getting into trouble. Textually, Lady Jaye proved a meaty part that they wrote well, bolstered with a mini-backstory and stayed true to my 80s memories. While Roadblock took on more of a leadership role, his love of weapons and steady head linked with my childhood memories. So, on a nostalgia scale, I give Retaliation a big Hoo-Rah!

2013 Writing Style: Yay or Nay?

It’s a “yay” all the way. Whenever I see an action film, my standards decrease 570% and I’m almost always STILL disappointed. But, Retaliation did not disappoint. The writers took time to connect the sub-stories together. Yes, the Storm Shadow/Snake Eyes murdered master bit felt tacked on, but they did a good job not overdoing it while folding it into the overarching plot. As a child I never understood Cobra commander’s desire to destroy the ENTIRE world. I mean seriously, where the hell would he go if he destroys China, Japan, the U.S., and Europe? Canada? Instead of explaining the crazy, the writers embraced it and made his cartoonish insanity more believably scary than 2009. No one can strut like Cobra Commander.

2013 Cast: Yay or Nay?

Hmm, it’s a Boo-Yay kinda day. The Yays. Let me tell you what worked. Dwayne Johnson. 178%. He was on fire. I have never seen him dominate the screen both physically and mentally as in this role. Everytime he appeared, he popped and I snapped to attention. While his biceps appear ten-times the size of the Rock circa the ’90s, the utter confidence he exuded amazed me. Do you know what the Rock is cooking? I do. It’s Dwayne Johnson’s mother-fucking hotness. While I’m not a Channing Tatum fan, I LOVED the improvisational-esque interactions between Roadblock and Duke. I would’ve paid $10 to watch those guys drive a bromantic humvee taking on international terrorists.

Bruce Willis, Byung-hun Lee and Ray Stevenson equally impressed me. I loved Willis’ understated, worn-in character with a quiet humor. Physically, Byung-hun Lee is impressive with am effing awesome  Storm Shadow-worthy intensity. Some of his dialogue fell of the beaten path, but no one seethes like him. Ray Stevenson’s charm oozed all over Firefly, making him a worthy villain.

The Nays: Adrianne Palicki’s Lady Jaye disappointed me. After the first 15 minutes, she came across as a standard pretty girl who I didn’t buy as a lifelong military brat with combat training and killer strength. There are very few Hollywood actresses that I believe could kick my 200+ ass. However, Sarah Michelle Geller (Buffy), Lucy Lawless (Xena), Gina Torres (Firefly), Victoria Prat (Cleopatra 2525), Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars), Thandie Newton and Grace Park (Hawaii 5-0) are a few. Pre-G.I.Joe Retaliation I would’ve added Palicki to the list, post-Retaliation not so much. D. J. Cotrona proved even less memorable. But, he played the role they wrote him. Unfortunately, Flint didn’t even get backstory. Outside her fight scenes, Elodie Yung gave the same stick figure, pretty girl performance as Palicki. (Question: Why is it the prettiest characters can’t keep their face masks on when undercover?)

The Action/Special Effects/Directing/Story – Yay or Nay? 

For me, it was good enough. They didn’t take advantage of the 3-D, even the mountain hopping scene didn’t require it.However, special effects-wise, rather than trying to wow us with the Joes’ cool tools, they made it more battle appropriate and utilitarian. Yes, I loved ALL of Roadblock’s toys and his cool wire cutters in the beginning, as well as Palicki’s target device in the beginning. Directing-wise Chu did an excellent job pulling from different genres. He appropriated Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon whenever Snake Eyes or Storm Shadow appeared — with punched up colors and beautifully plotted fight scenes. Although he switched to the standard action fare whenever Roadblock took center stage, Chu displayed beauty in firearms especially the final scene with Roadblock punching out rounds in slow motion. While my favorite scene surrounds Storm Shadow’s storming the castle and water sword fight complete with ripped off shirt. Only Lee could pull that off.

My least favorite included the five minute shot of Palicki’s naked butt. While I excused the cheesecake shots of Palicki’s chest (considering the 10 minute scene featuring a shirtless, water-soaked Lee), the five minute ass-shot spoke firmly of Michael Bay and sexist Hollywood practices. Considering the script and production values, this film didn’t need female ass shots. If the Joes teach young men about honor, they should include honoring the female body. This speaks to a greater cultural issue where male youths treat the female body like a commodity to misuse by taking visual cues from mainstream films and their surrounding community.

Outside of that scene, I really liked the story. Whenever an action flick goes full circle, I get excited. Unfortunately, I probably would’ve enjoyed the film more if I hadn’t just watched Olympus Has Fallen. Yes, Retaliation used a similar plot – the president kidnapped by an insane terrorist and only one man/team can save him. While Retaliation shared similar plot devices to Olympus which I don’t want to give it away during opening weekend, I still enjoyed it. This is the film they should’ve made first.

Suffice to say, for the 1980s child who cowered in the terror of Rise of the Cobra, fear not. Chu, Rheese and Wernick burned it in the backyard and used it to fertilize something better: Retaliation. Go Joe.

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Although I attended a The Host screening expecting the worst, the film and its stars pleasantly surprised my aging hipster sensibilities.

I’m not a Twilight fan by any stretch of the imagination. When the initial film premiered, I attended it with other science fiction-loving English PhD candidates. Needless to say, we spent the entire film guffawing at Edward’s ridiculous stalker actions, his Liberace style piano playing and the film’s over-dramatic language. Although I attempted to read the book, I stopped, offended by the egregious use of passive voice. When my oldest friend confessed her love of the Twilight series (novels AND films), I gave her a scathing diatribe lasting ten minutes. I will not lie. I temporarily considered disavowing her.

All the same, when I received the PR announcement regarding Stephenie Meyer’s press tour for The Host, the latest flick based on the novel, of course I had to attend. Regardless of my feelings on a book that lowered the intelligence quotient of half a nation, Meyers is a pop culture legend who inspired other pop culture legends (50 Shades of Grey) and legendary YouTube videos (see Buffy vs. Edward, Twilight vs Harry Potter and every single other Twilight mockery on-line). If it weren’t for Twilight in the theaters, we wouldn’t have True Blood, the US Being Human or The Vampire Diaries on our TVs. Considering my clear distaste of the first film and book, my enjoyment in this potentially new film series caught me off-guard. The Host, for those who haven’t memorized every single line, surrounds earth’s future occupation by peace-oriented alien parasites inhabiting human hosts.

The screening attendees likewise surprised me, possibly reflecting the film’s more mature reach. While I expected adolescent females, I saw a good mix of women AND men beyond their thirties and forties. Admittedly, the true believing adolescent females sat closer to the front, while those closer to my age  sat towards the back. Additionally, not everyone came for a pure Meyer love. When I asked those closer to my age group (and above) why they attended, they confessed to the draw of free tickets. However, when I asked younger women who appeared physical doppelgangers for any of Meyer’s on-screen female leads, they enthused their love of the novel. While I didn’t do a parallel exit poll, the people around me appeared quiet after the film ended and restless (almost forgetting Meyer and her two leads would soon appear).

The Q &A proved equally interesting. In case you’re wondering, Max Irons does an EXCELLENT American accent. Everyone in the audience, including myself, took a major pause when he grabbed the microphone. It happens around 1:05 in the clip below. It’s hilarious watching an entire audience swoon at his accent while realizing “OH, he isn’t American.” I will not lie, not having seen Irons’ previous work and not having made the connection between himself and his father, Jeremy Irons, I did not know he was British either. However, when he started discoursing in his native tongue, he instantly became 159% hotter to me.

While the film highlights Irons’ uber-chiseled chin and Abel’s pretty boy eyes, in the screening they looked like average 20-something lads, utterly careless of their good looks, who just fell out of bed to attend class. However, they struck me as men with their heads screwed properly on their shoulders. Both Abel and Irons flirted good-naturedly with each other while Abel cheekily joked with Meyer. Their casual, comfortable relationship reflected a potentially positive working environment. Considering Meyer is the J. K. Rowling of the American Young Adult Novel and the Shonda Rhimes of Young Adult films, I didn’t expect their mutual ease. Another great moment included a rolling joke between Meyer and Abel surrounding Percy Jackson catalyzed by a fan. Did Abel enjoy his PJ character? Of course. He was a bad-ass. But, Meyer should write more so he can play Ian again. What if Meyer kills off his Host character? That’s OK, he has Percy Jackson stuff. Check out the bantering laugh Irons and Meyer share while Abel fields the fan’s question. Personally, I enjoyed this film as a stand-alone, so I hope Meyer doesn’t write the follow-up she mentioned.

On a side note, this is the second set of pictures I’ve taken of a writer/actor affiliated with a vampire series that returned with red eye. I’m too tickled by the odd coincidence between the photos I took of her and Paul Wesley to color correct. Overall, screenwriter/director Andrew Niccol and the cast did an excellent job.

Host opens 3/29. Follow the Twitter feed at #TheHost!

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//www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoZwN7EEYgU

Admission: Even I get my heartstrings tugged during the (occasional) viewing of a romantic comedy. It isn’t often. Because it isn’t often I watch one.

But there are a few I have enjoyed. Notting Hill. When Harry Met Sally. Leaving Las Vegas. (And yes. That one is a romantic comedy, albeit a supremely tragic one.)

With (the unofficial month of love) February upon us, and since I’m in the mood to jaw about them, I thought now was as good a time as any to pull a few out my sleeve for you to consider.

The first is a Disney short nominated this year for an Academy Award (and the only one readily available for viewing on YouTube): Paperman. There’s been quite the go-around with technical conversations concerning this little ditty (here’s one), but I’m not here to pose questions as to its formulation (not much, anyway); I want to talk about it as a love story. Because that’s what it is. It’s love … practically at first sight.

One of the reasons this film works so well is its lack of chromatism — the simplicity of the blacks and whites and greys pull you away from those pretty distractions and force you to concentrate on the tale. Its colorlessness works in its favor, it doesn’t sway you one way or another with any eye candy glow or hues. Instead, you notice details more clearly — the unyielding cold of a brick building as paper airplanes carom off its side … the wind in the hair of Meg and ruffling the jacket of George … the glare of the sun in all its harsh brilliance. Add color to these things and they would lose character and intensity. Sounds rather ludicrous, doesn’t it? But it’s true.

Despite the overall absence of color, there is one obvious swash visible in the seven minutes of animation: That of Meg’s lipstick on one of George’s work papers. It’s the symbol (representing loving attraction) that will eventually draw them together once more from their original train depot meeting.

Deep down within George there is a yearning of the heart that is awakened at the sight of her. All that gunmetal grey around around him, even within him, suddenly parts. And, beginning with that first airplane he folds and continuing one after another, those planes take on a determination, a life of their own, thanks to George’s infatuation with Meg. They act as an extension of his hope and desire to reconnect with her. Because … isn’t that what love does? Ignites a spark? Brings life to a flame? It’s an interesting metaphor in bringing the two of them together once more.

I took to this film immediately and watched it several times over back to back. I simply got taken by it. And in addition to my mentions above, what really pulls the entire film together for me is, of course, the engaging score. Composer Christophe Beck (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Pink Panther, The Hangover) has handled quite a few high-profile scores in his career and it’s no surprise he took this film’s music and surrounded it with feeling consummate with its telling. (And yes … I purchased the score shortly after viewing the film.)

I’ve yet to see the other Oscar-nominated films up for consideration this year, so it’s really not fair I’ve reserved a special place in my heart for Disney’s Paperman to take the award. But it harkens back to some of my fondest memories visiting film festivals in years past. Paperman is similar to some of those shorts, an under-10-minutes’ worth of animation that takes you away and leaves you warm and satisfied. That’s what romantic comedies are supposed to do.

In contrast (and as an added bonus, because I’m all about the bonuses) I thought I’d include another of my favorites here for your dining and dancing pleasure. Now this one, The Big Snit … well … let’s just say it’s a bit on the odd side. If you’ve never seen it before, you’re in for a treat. You might struggle to see the romanticism in the overall scheme of the story except in the end. But it’s there, plain as day. It’s in their bird’s contentment and their cat’s mischievousness and the man’s proclivities and his wife’s housewifery. And come on: Sawing For Teens. What’s not to love?

Please enjoy. Or enjoy again, as the case might be.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtSj5_jELuQ

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I love ION TV’s Holiday romantic comedies. Despite my cold, cynical, Grinch-like heart, I love Christmas; girly, quirky romantic comedies and films that combine both into one. I’ve always loved ION’s family friendly programming and each year I gather around the TV to catch its romantic comedies. This year, I was lucky enough to preview ION’s December 2012 romantic comedies offering cheesy, quirky, vicarious fun with a dash of hope.

I have to hand it to ION for picking films, Golden Christmas 3 and Anything But Christmas, that highlight the realistic over the idealistic. A perfect, chiseled white knight is fun; but, that isn’t what happens in actuality. Despite the Cinderella fairytales on TV, relationships aren’t meant to be easy. This year, I felt ION focused less on making ‘holiday romantic comedies’ but on romantic comedies that happened to occur on the holidays. I think that’s a good focus. Forcing the holiday theme where it doesn’t work isn’t necessary. I’d rather have a strong, relatable script.

My favorites, A Star for Christmas, Anything but Christmas, and A Golden Christmas 3, featured what you’d expect — good-looking, almost-shirtless men with adorable, down-on-their-luck heroines. However, even more than that they featured realistic relationships. I typically hate rom-coms that feature 24-hour romances that end in magical proposals. Luckily, SC, AC and GC3 didn’t do that. Maybe this year’s flicks weren’t as high on production values as previous years; but, I’d rather see the network invest in films with strong casts and strong scripts than high production values with poor casts and weak scripts. I particularly respect ION for casting established actors who might’ve fallen off the recent pop culture radar like Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future) and Catherine Hicks (Seventh Heaven).

Below find my mini-reviews of new and old favorites.

Reviewing New Favorites

A Star for Christmas was my favorite ION holiday flick this season. It’s exactly what you’d expect of a holiday romantic comedy – it’s cuddly, light-hearted, deliberately cheesey, and features a tongue-in-cheek sense of humor. A Star for Christmas follows ordinary cupcake bakery owner Cassie (Briana Evigan) — the type of girl who allows everyone to take advantage of her. She shares her dog with her douchey ex-boyfriend. She lets her out-of-work younger brother live in her house for free. Her best friend/employee leaves her high and dry during her busy season. PLUS, despite believing in her business, she refuses to market it, take extra orders or charge what her products are worth. She charges 7.95 for a dozen cupcakes (CHEAP!), doesn’t charge her customers for bonus cupcakes, and allows them to sample entire cupcakes without paying (REALLY?). Enter Alex Cross (Corey Sevier), a mega superstar, who pretends he’s ordinary guy AJ to help her with the business.

Considering I basically wore my hair in a ponytail with messy bangs for a month, I totally identified with the heroine. Plus, I love baking, bakeries, and cupcakeries. I spent a couple weeks volunteering at Zoe’s Cupcake Café in NJ, until my schedule became insane, so the cupcake plot definitely drew me. I enjoyed Corey Sevier as the male lead. While he did a better job playing AJ, the relatable handyman guy next door, than as Alex Cross, the Will Smith-esque superstar, he had great chemistry with Briana. Brooke Burns’ character surprised me. I expected the stereotypical bitchy ex-girlfriend, but instead they made her an assertive, business-oriented character. Despite their surface differences, both of Alex’s love interests (past and present) shared similarities through their desire to help others.

Lest you believe the show is too saccharine sweet, it featured a couple tongue-in-cheek moments, where the writer(s) mocked standard rom-com tropes. There’s an awesome stand-off between Cassie’s two potential love interests that turns comically homoerotic. If you aren’t into holiday romantic comedies, this isn’t for you. Yes, the music sounds incredibly canned. Yes, the puppy is adorable, but probably isn’t sanitary for a cupcakery kitchen. But if you love the holidays and girly films, this is the one that you want to watch.

Anything But Christmas is my second favorite for this year, premiering Sunday, December 9, 7/6c. Widow Grace (Elaine Hendrix) raised her 10-year-old son alone while volunteering in the community, serving as her extended family’s backbone, and nursing her departed husband’s memory. She’s essentially superwoman. In contrast, her boyfriend John (Sergio Di Zio), an unemployed writer, is the ordinary guy next door who her family members hate.

This film does a great job of handling familial fractures and the pressures of pretending perfection during the allegedly ideal holiday. While Anything But Christmas realistically circles the difficulty of one couple connecting, despite multiple roadblocks, familial love (between two people and their community) was the true plot. While watching the film, I felt sorry for the Grace character. Her family members overtly relied on her and expected her to serve as a symbol of the strong independent woman or the strong widowed wife or the strong widowed wife of an army hero. While John is the average guy — selfish, secretive and cowardly — he’s what she needs. He fills in the little cracks of her life and doesn’t allow her to push herself until her engine runs dry. He forces her to look at reality while others allow her to play in unreality. Although her inner circle loves her, they encourage her desire to maintain an impossible ideal for herself without noticing the internal ruptures she experiences trying to perform the facade.

Each actor played their part incredibly well. Christopher Lloyd chewed up the screen as the emotionless, hollowed out father. Sean Michael Kyer, the adorable actor you see everywhere, played the precocious child here. Sergio Di Zio’s emotional vulnerability wooed me while Elaine Hendrix did an excellent job with her character. Through this film we learn love, family and heroism are all about sacrifice and doing anything for your loved ones, including Christmas.

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