Dexter: Season 6 Premiere – “Those Kinds of Things” Review (SPOILERS)

Although it does not premiere until October 2, I just watched the first episode of the sixth season of Dexter…and it was fantastic.

The episode began by putting me in a panic. Dexter calls 911 saying he has been stabbed, resulting in his next two victims’ arrival. From the moment the episode began, I could not help but sigh with relief. Dexter Morgan, I have missed you.

This episode “Those Kinds of Things” introduced a new pair of evil-doers: Edward James Olmos (Battlestar Galactica) and Colin Hanks (The Good Guys). While not many details were given about what the duo is doing or why, I was pleased to see Hanks in the role of a creeper. It is very believable.

Continue reading Dexter: Season 6 Premiere – “Those Kinds of Things” Review (SPOILERS)

America to be Invaded – Red Dawn Remake Releases in 2012

Everybody here holds a soft spot in their heart for the original 1984 Red Dawn. It starred Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Hall, Charlie Sheen, Jennifer Grey, and Lea Thompson alongside others as a group of kids who hide out in the woods after their town is invaded by communist forces from Russia and Mexico.

They then make a bad ass stand against the occupiers and save America and freedom. They probably save France again too, bunch of pussies.

Continue reading America to be Invaded – Red Dawn Remake Releases in 2012

TV Review: Terra Nova Episode 1 – “Genesis” Part 1 and Part 2

One thing is for certain about 2149…. the future sure is going to suck. The whole place is overpopulated and filthy with pollution. The air is so bad you have to wear a re-breather mask and if you have more than two kids you’re in some big ol’ trouble. It just so happens that’s what happens with the Shannon family. After the police find out that the Shannon’s have one more kid that they are allowed they arrest fellow officer Jim Shannon who made the mistake of also decking three of the officers who tried to take his youngest daughter Zoey. After spending two years in the local prison known as Golad, the Shannons are selected to be a part of the Terra Nova project and after a little more lawbreaking they are together once more as a family albeit 35 million years ago.

The Terra Nova project is simple really. There was a rip in the fabric of time space that led back 35 million years and the people of 2149 took advantage of this to save our civilization. This may leave you to wonder as I did – Wouldn’t we just destroy our own timeline and cause those who settled the past to vanish from existence with our meddling? No, because luckily this is all quashed by one of the Shannon children explaining to the other that the only reason their actions don’t affect the future is because it’s not the same time stream they are in on the Terra Nova settlement.

The first part of Genesis was okay, mainly serving the purpose to introduce everyone and everything including the Shannon kids, one of which is a typical teenager with all of the angst to go with it. The best character to be introduced in my opinion is that of Nathaniel Taylor, leader of the Terra Nova settlement and played by none other than our resident party crasher Stephen Lang. From the previews you would be lead to believe that he is playing the same character of Colonel Quaritch from Avatar but Taylor is a bit different. Though he has the same toughness and rigidness of Quaritch, he lacks the ruthlessness and knows how to be a fair and just leader. I enjoyed seeing Stephen Lang in action in the second part of the season premiere, which was a helluva lot better than the first.

After seeing the teenagers playing around and being teenagers and the little girl feeding the plant eating brachiosaurs (Groan), we finally get some action. I suppose it goes to show us that even in a world where humans can start from scratch, they will still fight and kill one another. It’s in part two that we are introduced into the “sixers”, a group of settlers that broke off from the Terra Nova settlement to start their own.

They’re called sixers because each group that comes into Terra Nova is known as a pilgrimage and the sixth one happened to contain those who split from the settlement. This changes the whole dynamic of the show for me because I was terribly afraid that we were just going to see little problems between people in the settlement constantly and teenagers getting lost and running from Dinosaurs each week. But it appears that we’ll have a few little storylines to follow each week from here on out. The conflict with the sixers is first and foremost for me, but there is also the geometrical writings on the wall that Jim Shannon’s son Josh found with his new friends and Taylor’s son who went missing a long time ago. My guess is that it will eventually turn out that he is a sixer, possibly even the leader. Actually a couple of those were surprisingly revealed by the end of the episode but I won’t spoil it for you.

I give the premiere a 4 out of 5. It kept me pretty entertained for two hours and even though I know it won’ t be constant dinosaur attacks like we’ve had in this premiere I’m hopeful they can give us something equally as bad ass over the course of the season. The actors were excellent, even the semi-annoying teens. Even though Taylor is my favorite character he is by no means the main character. The main focus is the Shannon family and their patriarch Jim Shannon is definitely my second favorite character, played by Jason O’Mara. It was a good thing he was given the opportunity to be a cop again because if he was part of the agriculture team for more than a quarter of the episode I’d probably of puked. With a lack of masculinity on TV that our dear Dr. Kronner rants and raves about on Grizzly Bomb, it was nice to see a dad doing everything for his family to keep them together while not being a complete bumbling fool who is constantly in touch with his feelings and all that nonsense. I’ll be tuning in next week fo’ sho’.

HBO Review – Boardwalk Empire: Season 2 Episode 1 “21”

Boardwalk Empire Season 2 is back and everyone seems to be doing well. Jimmy and his half faced associate Richard Harrow are moving the liquor in and out of Atlantic City like clockwork. Eli is still healing from his wounds and the Commodore is…. looking fit and healthy with his trusty spear. Nucky is still living the life fantastic at night while still retaining Margaret Schroeder during the days. Agent Van Alden and his wife seem to be in good standing as she has now come to visit Atlantic City. The only one not doing so great is Chalky White, who as an African-American in the 1920’s can’t really get a fair shake in Atlantic City. And that’s an understatement.

After having his bootlegging warehouse turned into swiss cheese by some douche bag Klansmen, Chalky gets into some major hot water for shooting one of them. Doesn’t make too much sense but it’s a part of a scheme cooked up by Jimmy’s father, the Commodore. At the end of last season we got to see the triumvirate of Jimmy, his father and Eli Thompson plotting the downfall of Enoch Thompson whom each has experienced a betrayal (in their opinions) by the county treasurer. Nucky doesn’t seem to suspect much of anything other than Jimmy may be acting a little weird and holding something back. I’m excited to see how things shake out after Nucky does realize what’s really going on. My hope is that Jimmy will eventually see that he is in the wrong and maybe turn on Eli and his dear ol’ dad.

We were able to see the duplicitous Van Alden in action as he wines and dines his wife on one hand and then after she leaves Atlantic City he is looking after Lucy whom he has gotten preggers. I wonder if Agent Van Alden has considered what a whore Lucy is and that the kid may indeed not be his. Mr. Shannon has definitely created a rather brilliant character in Van Alden as he appears to have the most flat affect I’ve seen in a person. But once the law is in play and violence is necessary, Van Alden bursts to life in full fury. The scene in the restaurant in particular was awesome.

Another character we get to see a little more insight to is Richard Harrow. The disfigured veteran definitely tips the social awkwardness scale whenever he isn’t sniping people or planting a shotgun in their face. It was both intriguing and heart wrenching seeing how much he longs for a normal life with a wife and children. I think it’s safe to say he’s a tad bit envious of Jimmy and his life where he “has everything.” I can almost see Richard betraying Jimmy if it came to Nucky enticing him that life somehow.

Overall the episode seemed like it only lasted a half hour because I was so into it. Not a whole lot went down, but it was like the actors and actresses hadn’t even missed a beat between seasons and I love it. Things have picked up right where they left off and between the teasers and show creators promising many more new characters to come in the season. I’m giving this episode a solid four out of five grizzlies. Boardwalk is back and carrying on with the same prohibition-gangster drama that I fell in love with last year! Bring it on next week!

‘Logan’s Run’ Joining the Remake Train

Nicolas Winding Refn – the Danish director responsible for the Pusher Trilogy, Bronson, Valhalla Rising and the recent crime thriller Drive – is set to remake the 1976 SF film Logan’s Run. It will star Ryan Gosling – who was also the star of Drive – as the titular Logan.

 For those of you who haven’t seen the orignal film: it is set in a future city where everyone lives a life of pleasure, untill they reach the age of 30 when they are terminated. Logan is a member of the enforcers of this law, but ends up rebelling against the system.

The original film won an Oscar for its visual effects – they look quite dated now though. Winding Refn is hoping to use less CGI and rely more on sets and designs.

The film is to be scored by (the ridiculously monikered) Johnny Jewel. He was a collaborator on the Drive soundtrack. He, apparently, didn’t take much persuading, he was already a fan of the orignal – at his 30th birthday party he had a replica blinking gem in his hand, like in the film.

Grizzly Review: Killer Elite

Last night I saw the newest Statham movie, and I have to say I was surprised. Not at all what I was expecting. In the trailer (which we talked about in June) we heard ’80s rock and got lots of punching and shooting and all around violent types of imagery. So naturally I expected your general type of Statham movie. However, we were rewarded with something even better (Well, depending on your mood), a real movie with an actual plot.

Taking place in 1980, Killer Elite revolves around the desired redemption of the disgraced Sheikh Amr. For Amr to gain said redemption and lift his exile to return home, the men who murdered his 3 sons must confess and be killed themselves. That seems straight forward enough, but where the twist comes in, and what seemed to confuse others in the audience, was just how exactly Jason Statham gets sucked into this vendetta. And as it turns out, it’s all a result of multiple betrayals, as well as his own loyalty.

From the trailer it looks like a movie full of Statham vs. Owen, but in truth they are little more than pawns, neither really knowing the real reason they are there. And that reason is something I don’t really want to give away, because I’m gonna go ahead and recommend  you see this movie, so I don’t want to ruin anything. I can say this though – the trailer is not the most accurate representation of a movie that I’ve seen.

The vague overview: De Niro takes the job from the Sheikh blindly, and then upon learning further details tries to back out. This doesn’t go over well with the powers that be, so old Bobby D is held captive. This forces his old friend (the Stath) to end his freshly begun retirement, and complete the job in exchange for De Niro’s release. Statham puts together a team and proceeds to hunt down the men responsible – all Ex-SAS officers that were under orders at the time of their crimes.

Enter Clive Owen, an ex-SAS soldier in his own right, acting out on the behalf of ‘The Feathermen’, a much older group of retired SAS. He’s looking to stop Statham, and in the background is all sorts of politicking our principles don’t know about.

Overall I found the movie quite enjoyable, though if I had to nitpick there is one thing that bugged me, which was the camera work during the fight scenes. So of Director Gary McKendry I might ask that next time – pan out. The super fast extreme closeup angles during the  action scenes make it hard to see the action. But that’s really about it. I liked the movie more than expected. DeNiro had a scene so badass the audience cheered, ‘Mr. MFWIC’ – [Mother F–ker Whats In Charge] was amusing, and Dominic Purcell‘s mustache was too awesome to criticize. I went to see a mindless action movie and instead got an action movie that actually stimulated the brain as well…

I’ll give it a 4/5 Bears. Booyah.

Also, for the Chuck fans out there, I should mention that Statham’s girl is played by Yvonne Strahovski