Panic Room -TV

I am not a David Fincher fan. There. I said IT. Bring on the wrath of cinephiles globally! Come on. Seven was just too damn disturbing and Fight Club. Well, the first rule of Fight Club is 'Don't talk about Fight Club'. So I won't. So I never saw Panic Room when it was at the cinemas, nor on DVD. What a fool I was.
I saw Panic Room was going to be on TV and even though I knew it was a David Fincher film, it had Jodie Foster in it, who is not only one of my favourite actors, but she's smart too. She makes good artistic and business decisions so I thought I'd record the movie and watch it later. I love it when I am surprised by a film and my expectations have been exceeded.
The story revolves around a divorced Mum of a 10 year old diabetic girl who buy a beautiful multi-storey apartment (which is a bit excessive for my liking). The place was previously owned by a multi-millionaire who had a Panic Room installed so that if a home invasion occurred he could safely hold himself up in the room and call the cops from the installed phone. When the man died, he left millions in bearer bonds in the Panic Room unbeknownst to our new buyers. Unfortunately, the Panic Room installer and two fellow thieves break in on the girl's first night thinking the place is still empty. Our Mother sees the robbers on the security cameras and locks her and her daughter inside the Panic Room. But the phone hasn't been connected and the daughter's life saving insulin is outside with the bad guys. How does she save her daughter and get away?
David Fincher has created a Hitchkockian thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Confined to the one building and claustrophobically within the four walls of the titular Panic Room. This film is brilliantly made with the inhabitants of the Panic Room changing through the film. It's incredibly clever storytelling and I would have given this film 10/10 if it wasn't for the ending.
#######SPOILER ALERT#######
If you haven't seen this movie, look away now! Even test audiences didn't like the ending but it was going to cost too much to do reshoots so they played with the editing. They should have allowed Forest Whitaker's robber to get away with the cash instead of it blowing away and no one getting it. They tried to make him less sympathetic to the audience, but they didn't do a very good job of it. It is the only poor decision in this great story.
######END SPOILER######
I have to make mention that Kristen Stewart is FANTASTIC in this movie. Before she was in THAT vampire movie, she could really act! I hope she gets the opportunity to show her acting skills again.
If you love a good thriller with great acting and a really cleverly constructed story, don't be like me. See this movie now! I love this film and will be adding it to my DVD collection if I can track down the three disc collector's set, of if they bring out a bonus features heavy Blu Ray version! I give it 9/10.

Coraline - TV

I feel like a right bastard.  This movie won heaps of awards and is generally considered to be brilliant, but for some reason, I really didn't enjoy it.  So why might that be?
The movie is based on a novel by Neil Gaiman and is a stop motion animated film directed by 'A Nightmare Before Christmas' Henry Selick and it shares a similar feel.  Both movies are quite dark and while aimed at children, I feel the story is more suited to an older audience.  I even tested it on my young daughter who also didn't enjoy the movie.
The story centres around the titular Coraline who moves into a run-down house with her parents who are too busy renovating to pay her much attention so when she discovers the 'Other World' and parallel parents who are very doting, she of course wishes she could stay.  As the poster says, be careful what you wish for.  You see the Other Mother is really a very nasty witch who wants Coraline's eyes and I assume she kills the child to get them as Coraline discovers the ghosts of three other victims!  Great kids story!  When she refuses, she then has to rescue her real parents from the witch. There are a few other characters around the house who also have parallel versions of themselves in the alternate reality.
The voice actors include:

• Dakota Fanning as Coraline;
• Teri Hatcher as the Mums;
• Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French as Miss Spink and Miss Forcible;
• Ian McShane as Mr Bobinsky; and
• Keith David as the Cat.

 This movie took a huge amount of effort and time to create and you can see the work up on the screen. 
I recorded this when it was played on TV and I am not sure if that contributed to how I feel about the film but I just didn't enjoy the story or the way the characters looked.  They were just 'freaky' for want of a better word. 
I know that there are tens of thousands of people who do love this movie and I don't wish to insult you or upset you. For myself, I give it 5/10.

AVP2 Requiem - DVD

I remember seeing the first Alien movie on VHS and being scared out of my wits.  I then recall seeing Aliens at the cinemas and being even more scared by the nasty Xenomorphs.  Then along came a little movie that I also saw on VHS starring Arnold Schwarzenegger about a different alien, Predator, directed by John McTiernan who would go on to direct one of my all time favourite films, Die Hard.  Just as gory as Alien, it also produced a sequel, this time with no Arnie, but there was this blink and you miss it shot of an Alien head as a trophy in the Predator's ship at the end of the second film.  Say what?  They are in the same fictional universe?!  How cool is that?!  Soon after I tracked down some comic books of Aliens Vs Predators.
Imagine my surprise when they finally released an AVP film, which was panned by the critics, but I actually didn't mind it.  This then brings us to yet another sequel, this time AVP2.
I really like it when a story at least tries to follow on from the previous story and this movie starts with the end of the first AVP movie with the triumphant Predators leaving Earth after the events of he first film.  However, at the end of the first movie, an Alien burst from the chest of a fallen Predator.  The outcome of this was that all the Predators were killed and the ship crashes back to Earth releasing the newly birthed Aliens which quickly go on a rampage.  Even a little kid is shockingly easy prey.
A Predator responds to an emergency beacon and leaves their home planet to find out what happened to his fellow Predators.  He quickly goes about dispatching the Aliens and dissolving all trace.  However, the battle soon explodes into a populated town where the body count quickly escalates.  How will our human heroes survive?  And will the army come to save them?
The movie was directed by The Brothers Strause who are special effects wizards and went on to direct another Sci-Fi film, Skyline.  AVP2: Requiem has no big stars in it which does it no favours but the brothers did not have a huge budget to work with and had to put as much into the special effects as they could.  This unfortunately clearly shows in the sub-par acting.  The actors are from television, including Steven Pasquale from Rescue Me and Reiko Aylesworth from 24.  John Ortiz looks like his stint on the movie hasn't hurt him as he has gone on to star in some bigger films like American Gangster and Public Enemies.
The 'Definitive Edition' 2 Disc DVD has got some pretty good making off documentaries and featurettes and a couple of commentaries which I have yet to listen to.
Like the first AVP film, Requiem was panned by almost everyone who has seen it and I am sure by plenty who haven't.  I actually didn't mind it.  It was better than I was expecting and another decent addition to the cinematic saga of the Aliens and the Predators.  While I concede it would have been heaps better, it is certainly not as bad as what people were making it out to be.  I give it 6/10.

Timeline - TV

Once again, I am baffled why so many people panned this movie.  Timeline is based on a novel by the late Michael Crichton (Jurassic Park) and is directed by the wonderful Richard Donner (Superman & Lethal Weapon).  There is a whole host of known actors including: Paul Walker, Frances O'Connor, Gerard Butler, Billy Connolly, David Thewlis, Michael Sheen and Marton Csokas.
The story is actually quite clever with a mix of archaeology, time travel and dark ages France with Knights and Swords!
Billy Connolly, the archaeology professor ends up being trapped in medieval France and his students (who discover his notes) find out about the time machine and go back to rescue him.  But the company who built the machine has something else in mind and when things go wrong (as they must) and a company bad guy returns to the present with a grenade which detonates and destroys the machine, how are our heroes meant to return to the present themselves?  There is a great link at the end which ties up the storyline quite nicely I thought.
Don't get me wrong, this isn't the most brilliant movie but I don't know why it didn't do very well at the box office (perhaps Paul Walker is the reason?).  This is actually a clever time travel film and if you haven't seen it because of the bad reviews, it is time to revisit it. 7/10

Dragonball Evolution - TV

There are movies I will ensure I see at the cinema, then there are those that while I missed them at the cinemas, I am willing to buy them on Blu-Ray of DVD without seeing them first.  Then there are those that I will record on TV and watch to see if I want to add them to my movie collection.  Dragon Evolution falls into the last category.
I have never seen the original cartoon or Japanese Manga that this story is based on and so I do come to this film with an unbiased eye.
The story is really "out there".  An evil alien (?) was under lock and key but escapes and is looking to collect seven 'Dragonballs' that have been spread across the globe.  Apparently when brought together he can summon someone or something to bring destruction ot the world (never really understood the take over and destroy the world 'thing', but hey, it's just a story).  As luck would have it, our hero, Goku, has been given one of the Dragonballs to protect AND he is a martial arts master.(of course)  The evil alien, Piccolo (a small wind instrument?) kills Goku's grandfather and destroys their house.  Before the grandfather dies, he tells Goku to seek out the martial arts master, Roshi.  Effectively they get together with some other people, gain some more balls (careful!) and then lose all their balls (Hee Hee) and then they all come together to fight it out.  There is a clever little twist in the story which elevated it in my eyes and not everyone survives (or do they?)
Goku is played by War Of the World's, Justin Chatwin, who has a funny little nod to the cartoon when trying to style his hair; Piccolo is Spike from Buffy, or James Marsters if you prefer and Master Roshi is played by the wonderful Cow Yun-Fat.  Everyone plays it not too seriously and they look like they are having quite a bit of fun.
The very ending (after the credits - love post credit scenes) leaves this story open for a sequel but due to very poor box office, there will not be a sequel made.
As I said, I came to this film without much knowledge of the original story and so I actually don't mind it.  It's directed by X-Files alumni, James Wong, who I think is an imaginative storyteller.  While this movie is not highly recommended, it was not the train wreck that everyone thought it was.  I am going to be generous and give it 6/10.

Secrets Of The Furious Five - DVD

After giving the Kung Fu Panda movie a 9/10, I was very happy to find a 'sequel' or continuation of the story in the DVD release of "Secrets Of The Furious Five".
However, not everything is as you may think.
Firstly, this is a 'short'.  It only goes for 24 minutes and to ask for the price they were asking for the DVD is tantamount to robbery.  Of course they know that parents everywhere are going to buy this new story if their kids were excited about the first movie.  They also try and pad it out with some more crappy bonus features too.
The story has Master Shifu putting Po into an impossible situation of teaching Kung Fu to a group of young ones (rabbits!?).  To get them to listen and learn, Po tells them a story about each of the Furious Five.  The idea is to teach them that Kung Fu is not just all about fighting, but using your head too.
The best part of this is that Jack Black AND Dustin Hoffman return to provide the voices of Po and Master Shifu respectively.  Thsi makes up for a thin package.
Also, when Po is teaching the young ones, it is in the CGI of the movie, but when the stories are being told, it is in traditional 2D animation.  Considering how short this was, I am sure they could have animated this fully in CGI.
So is it worth it?  For completists, it's a definite.  For others, if you can pick it up for about $8, go fo it, but it is not really worth any more than that.  While the themes are good for kids to learn, I have to take off points for it's scant length.  5/10

Kung Fu Panda - DVD

Can an over-weight adopted clumsy Panda become the finest Kung Fu Master ever?  Hell Yes!
I originally took my youngest daughter to see this movie at the cinemas which is really just an excuse for me to see an animated film.  I am a huge fan of animated movies but Pixar usually controls the best of position in the computer generated animated feature film category.  The problem is, Pixar movies are exceptional but can sometimes forget they are mainly for kids and so are a bit heavy with the storylines.  Dreamworks remembers to simply have fun and getting comedian Jack Black to play the titular Po, was a master stroke.  He IS Po, full of awkward determination to achieve his seemingly unachievable goal.
But Jack isn't the only star to voice a character.  Dreamworks has gathered am impressive cast of actors to voice the furious five and other main characters including: the brilliant Dustin Hoffman plays the exasperated Master Shufu who must mold Po's clay into iron; the wonderful Angelie Jolie as the usurped Tigress, contender for the top position until Po falls from the sky; also Jackie Chan is Monkey, Seth Rogen is Mantis and Lucy Lui is Viper.  The bad guy, Tai Lung, is the nasty Ian McShane (no swearing in this movie thanks!) and his jailer is the late Michael Clarke Duncan with a voice as deep as the jail that Tai Lung is imprisoned within.
A wonderful story married with some of the most beautiful animation for a kids film ever produced.
I recently re-watched this movie on DVD and it hasn't lost any of it's brilliance.  However, the Bonus Features were a little hard to sit through with a class on the Kung Fu moves of our heroes to learn (!?) as well as a crappy dance to learn as well.  One of the best features was on the incredibly varied languages that the film had to be dubbed into for it's international releases but that there is no word that translates for 'Skadoosh' - very funny.
Dare I say it?  Thsi movie is AWESOME!  I highly recommend - 9/10.

Eight Crazy Nights - DVD

I’d like to start by saying that I hate it when people bag movies.  They always sound so ‘up themselves’ as if they have made a dozen Academy Award winning films and they are the absolute authority in film.  They seem to take a perverse pleasure in putting a film down.  Then of course there are those who give a movie a bad review because it is the ‘in thing’ to do, John Carter anyone?

While I have a degree in film making, I have never made a film.  I know that there are a huge number of people involved in the making of a movie and no one sets out to make a bad film.

Having said all this, I find myself in the awkward position of not liking a movie and not recommending anyone to see it.

The movie in question is Adam Sandler’s “Eight Crazy Nights”.  This is an adult-orientated animated Christmas movie but for Jewish people. Confused?

I bought this on DVD sight unseen.  It was cheap and was a collector’s edition.  I love animation and also enjoy some Adam Sandler films so how bad can it be, right?

Let me start with the story.  Adam Sandler plays the part of Davey stone a reprehensible man who skips out on his restaurant bill, is an alcoholic and is abusive to almost every person he meets.  This is one character who is very hard to root for.  After another drunken episode, and due to his long list of previous criminal offenses, Davey is to be sentenced to jail time.  That is until Whitey, a little old man comes to his rescue and offers to take him under his wing and mentor him.  Davey sued to be a pretty good basketball player in his youth and Whitey makes him a referee for his community service.  But if he messes up once more, it is off to jail for good.  The trouble is, Davey doesn’t care that someone is doing something nice for him and treats Whitey with derision.  Somehow, over the next eight nights of Hanukkah, Davey must find and earn redemption.

I have to say that I loved the animation.  This is very well drawn, especially Adam Sandler’s likeness.

However, the film is hard to enjoy.  It is animated but is not aimed at children because the story is quite adult and is rated M 15+ in Australia.  However, it is too puerile for adult audiences.  I’m not Jewish but I felt offended for Jewish people.  But then, not knowing any Jewish people, they may enjoy this form of humour, who knows.  One of the scenes has Davey kick over a port-a-loo with Whitey inside, who emerges covered in excrement.  He then goes on to hose him down, this is in the middle of winter and of course he freezes into what Davey calls a ‘Poopsicle’.  Yep, it’s that type of humour.  What took this scene over the edge was that Whitey is saved by some reindeer that lick the icy crap off him! Yuck!

While Adam Sandler provides the voice for Davey, he also erroneously provides the excruciatingly annoying voices for Whitey and his twin sister Eleanor.  Seriously, I found it so hard to stick with this movie to the end because the voices are just terrible!  If Adam had got a couple of other actors to help out, this would have been a passably watchable film.  However, the singing makes that just that little bit more impossible.  The singing is pretty bad and also incredibly annoying.

It’s not all bad though.  The character of Whitey can find the positive in anything and the story of redemption is to be applauded.  But it is not enough for me to recommend this movie to anyone else to watch.

The DVD comes with a couple of Audio commentaries, some deleted scenes and a making-of featurette.  There is also a weird little short film called ‘A Day With the Meatball’ and a music video by Adam Sandler called The Chanukah Song Part 3.  You must need to be Jewish to appreciate this too.  There is an artwork gallery showcasing the great animation plus the original trailer and some bonus movie trailers.  A comprehensive collection but once again, not enough for me to recommend buying this DVD.

I know that some people enjoy this movie (Fox-TV said “The funniest holiday movie of all time” – though I can’t help thinking they missed the word ‘NOT’ in front of that quote), but I just didn’t enjoy this.  I hope I haven’t offended anyone with my review.  Watch “The Santa Clause” for a better holiday comedy for the whole family.  I give this movie a very generous 4 out of 10.

Indy's Back!

Indiana Mulder that is!
Yes, I have been away for awhile!  Almost seven months without a post!  I have been studying and finally with that behind me, I am free to write about my passions again.  However, while I have kept a comprehensive list of all movies, tv shows, and books since I last wrote, the list is too huge to write everything up.
So I have made a decision to just write reviews of movies, whether watched at the cinema, on DVD or Blu-Ray or just on television and any TV shows I have watched on DVD.   This means I will catch up quicker and I won't bore you guys with all the tv shows I have been watching.
Unless you follow me at GetGlue or on Twitter, where I will be doing a quick 140 character check in on everything I have watched or read over the last seven months.  This is going to take me forever to catch up.  I hope you are patient and I hope you all enjoy the reviews. 
Please interact and let me know what you think of the reviews.

Person Of Interest - Ghosts

The title to this week's episode, "Ghosts", could just as easily refer to the character whose Social Security Number The Machine has spat out, as to Micheal Emerson's Mr Finch and his memories of the past.  The machine has identified a young woman as the possible victim or perpetrator of a violent crime. Problem is, she's been dead for two years!  While Reese is investigating the teenage girl, Mr Finch is thinking back about The Machine and we discover that his partner is someone who was also on The Island in LOST, Goodwin!  Nice touch.  They were idealistic and started out small but Mr Finch had discovered that the machine was not only spitting out possible terrorists but all incidents of violent crimes and they don't really know what to do with all the numbers, so they choose to do nothing.  I wonder what the ramifications of that decision are going to be?
While investigating, Reese is also trying to find out about his enigmatic 'partner' and tracks him down to his place of work.  He works in a software company where he is hastled by his young boss and doesn't really fit in, but the real twist is, he owns the company but no one knows that.
Our two heroes work out that the teenage girl is still alive and not killed by her Dad in an apparent murder/suicide.  They were the victims of an assassination but the assassin would not kill the child.  That's not stopping the new assassin who has been hired now that the bad guys have also found out the girl is still alive.  You see her Dad owned some prime real estate and he was killed for it (by his brother no less!) and he is the sole beneficiary unless they kill her for good this time!
The episode ends with Mr Finch leaving his 'job' because he has been 'found' by Reese.  As he leaves, there is a bust of his partner in the building foyer which shows he is dead.  How did he die?  Was it because they chose to ignore the numbers?
I am really enjoying this show!  Jim Caviezel is brilliant as the stony protector Reese.  I love that he has complete control of his emotions and can explode with power in a fight when he needs to.  Michael Emerson is also excellent as Mr Finch.  I am looking forward to seeing how these characters develop together.  My favourite show on TV at the moment!

NCIS: Los Angeles - Cyber Threat

Someone hacks into the Department Of Defence and the attack is traced to a man who is subsequently kidnapped.  The team go in under cover to protect the family, the wife and son of the kidnap victim and it is while they are there that they discover the actual hacker is none other than the boy.
It appears the Chinese have kidnapped the father in the hope of using him for further hacking attacks without knowing he wasn't even responsible.  The team have to rescue the father from the Chinese.
Meanwhile Callen is still having to deal with Hunter and needing to speak to the convalescing Hetty to find out the truth about his past.  What will he do if she tells him everything?
Another good episode.

NCIS - Restless

Probably not one of the best episodes of NCIS but still a good episode.  A fairly run of the mill investigation where a Marine arrives at his homecoming dying from multiple stab wounds.  But why was he killed?  Did it have something to do with his job or was it someone he knew outside of work?  What does his foster sister have to do with it all?
On a side story, Tony feels guilty about bullying someone when he was in school and tracks down the guy so he can apologise.  Weirdly, Tony was the one who was bullied!  He'd flipped the memories to help him deal with it.  Another layer of the onion is peeled away.

Blue Bloods - My Funny Valentine

Ah, love is in the air, but not as you would think.  It's New York style and not in a Woody Allen type of way, unless you include Manhattan Murder Mystery!
A young girl is kidnapped for a ransom of $5million and Danny and his partner have to find her.  After a false alarm at the drop off of the ransom (a homeless man was given $100 to do the pick up), Danny figures out that perhaps the girl's boyfriend is behind the kidnapping and then it doesn't take much for him to theorise that the girl was in on it too.
Meanwhile, Police Commissioner Reagan can't help but notice his office cleaner is upset (hell, she smashes one of his mugs!) and she lets out that her son has been arrested but he is innocent (aren't they all?).  The Commissioner tells her he can't get involved, but since when has he ever done everything by the book.  He surreptitiously visits the detective on the case and asks her to have a second look.
Lastly, Erin's annoying daughter Nikki, buts her head in and invites her Mum's boss to Valentine's Day dinner!  She realises, just in time that she may have put her Mum in an awkward situation and talks to Granddad, who says to talk to her Mum about it, which she does and Erin quickly nips the dinner in the bud.  Her boss, who is running for Mayor, says that once he is elected he can stop hiding.
However, Danny's investigation takes a sinister turn for the worse when the kidnapped girl's boyfriend is found dead and it appears there is now a real kidnapper involved.  They manage to find him and the tied up girl but he kills himself, rather than be taken in by the police.  It appears the girl found out Daddy was going to marry his girlfriend but she wanted Mummy and Daddy to get back together and thought this was the best way!?!  So there was love in there somewhere!  Her and her boyfriend thought it up and it went south when they got the crazy guy involved, who ended up killing the boyfriend and taking the girl hostage for real.  Charming.
Also, the detective looking after the cleaner's son's case, advised the Commissioner that she had another look and the boy is innocent and has been let free.  Apparently it is true that is is not what you know but who.
Lastly, Erin turns up for Valentine's Day dinner to be greeted by all the single members of the Reagan family where they enjoy a dinner of Peking Duck! Happy Valentine's Day!
Not the best episode but a great twist to the kidnapping, even if the crazy guy kills himself.

Parenthood - In-Between

Wow.  So what the hell is this show going to do to our favourite Braverman family now?  Crosby and Adam finally hire someone for reception, who is very bright and knowledgeable about the music scene, but she is also very flamboyant and 'hot'.  Adam doesn't want to hire her essentially because of her looks.  Not only is this discriminatory but he obviously fears his fidelity to his wife who has just given birth to their third child!  So is this new woman, Rachel, going to be the cause of extra-marital problems in the future?  I hope not.  You see Kristina has been feeling very overwhelmed with the recent birth and the changes to her body and does not feel very sexy at all, so when she turns up at the Luncheonette and the hot young woman doesn't know who she is, she is feeling very vulnerable.  Of course Adam doesn't help by pointing out the baby vomit in her hair!  Now she is mortified!  No sex for you tonight Adam!
The boys decide to hold a grand opening party and everyone is excited, except Kristina, who is worried about being compared to all the young hot women who will be there.  Of course, while talking to Rachel, her breast starts to leak!  Horrified, Kristina hides in Adam's office.  He finds her and tells her that he is very horny for her and to not worry.  So far so good.  Keep this up mate and you just might get lucky!
Meanwhile, the Seth saga continues with him finishing rehab and holing up in a flea pit of a motel room.  Amber decides to give up her place for her Dad who gets offered a job and is looking for his own place.  But then Amber overhears her Mum, Sarah talking about Seth and that she really thinks they might be able to make a go of it.  Amber is upset because Sarah has been so happy with Mark.  So Amber tells her Dad that she wants him to think of Sarah and her happiness in all this.  At the end of this episode, Seth tells Sarah he has been offered a job interstate and is going to take it.  Could her finally be getting responsible?
Their son Drew finally makes it official with Amy and they are now boyfriend and girlfriend and she even instigates making out!  Go boy!
Lastly, Crosby has to deal with Dr Joe in Jabbar's life.  He has been reading the Harry Potter books with Jabbar and they are about to finish the fourth book when Jabbar tells him that Dr Joe brought over the sixth movie to watch.  Crosby is not happy but doesn't say anything (he's a good Dad) and decides to watch to movie himself so he can talk with Jabbar about it.  However, when he tries to talk to his son, he drops another bombshell by saying Dr Joe is taking him to his first football game.  That's the last straw!  Crosby confronts Dr Joe in his office and tells him he can't take Jabbar to the game because that is his right as a father to experience that with him.  Later, Dr Joe arrives at the Luncheonette and gives Crosby the football tickets but warns him that he is going to be in Jabbar's life and he is just going to have to live with it!  Not sure how true his words are going to be, because at the party, Jasmine came and congratulated Crosby for achieving his dream.  She seemed a bit too flirty for my taste.
And talking about flirty?  Kristina surprises Adam the next day with a bit of morning sex!  She is back in the saddle, so to speak!
Another great episode that is setting up some new story arcs.  This was the final episode in Australia in 2011, so looking forward to the show's return this year.  Bring it on.

Merlin - A Servant of Two Masters

This episode is just like it's title and has two masters.  On one side it is a very serious story with Merlin being turned to become an assassin with the job of killing Arthur.  On the other, it is one of the funniest episodes they have done!
You see while patrolling, Merlin is separated from the group when they are attacked (thanks to the treacherous Agravaine) and Merlin is taken to Morgana.  She takes a many headed snake called a Fomorroh and explains that it can't be killed and implants a part of it in Merlin's neck (a lot like a Goa'uld from Stargate is implanted into a host!) and explains that ti will take over his will and he will do whatever she commands, which is to kill Arthur.
When Merlin is returned, Arthur is very happy (he's had a replacement servant who while good at his job, is just dead boring!), but unaware that Merlin is out to get him.  Merlin's attempts are hilarious.  Poison on Arthur's dinner but is beaten to feeding him by Gwen, so he dumps it with the pigs, who die!
He sets up a crossbow, but that doesn't work.  He tries to kill him with a sword but is knocked unconscious when he runs into a column!  Meanwhile, Gaius and Gwen notice his change and realise what he is going to do and turn up just in time.  To ensure he stays unconscious, Gwen hits Merlin again with a jug!
They work out what is in Merlin and remove it but of course it grows back and Merlin again tries to kill Arthur by putting acid in his bath.  Gwen again knocks Merlin out with a jug!  Then Arthur is there, ready for his bath, naked in front of Gwen!  Brilliantly funny!
Gauis works out he can put the Fomorroh to sleep temporarily, which allows Merlin to change into Emrys, or Dragoon The Great, and go to Morgana's hut and destroy the snake by magic. 
Morgana walks in on him and at first flees because she fears him, but then returns and they have a mighty battle (Very Sword In The Stone just no changing into animals!) and Merlin eventually attacks her with a whirlwind knocking her unconscious.  He destroys the snake and returns to Camelot.
This was a really great episode.  One of my favourites.

The Hangover

I think it is really hard to find a really good comedy these days.  Maybe it is age, but I think most of the funny stuff was made about twenty to thirty years ago.  Now we mostly just get crap that riffs off whole genres of film and not very well either.  If you looked at my movie collection, there are not a lot of comedies, and I own over 900 titles.  So when The Hangover was released, I was not in any hurry to go and see it.  But the buzz continued to grow.  Word of Mouth was this was a very funny movie and not to be missed.  They had even released a sequel!  Finally, I saw it was going to be on television so I recorded it and my wife and I sat down to watch it.
The story is about three friends and a future brother-in-law, going to Las Vegas for a bachelor party.  They all stand on the roof of their hotel, looking out over the city and have a drink.  The film then goes to the next morning and now there are only three of them.  The groom is missing, the hotel room is destroyed, there is a baby in a closet and a tiger in the bathroom!  None of the three have any memory of what happened the night before.  So they embark on a search for their friend by retracing their steps of where they were and finding out the bizarre things they got up to.
I must admit, this is a very funny movie and I loved the 'Momento' style concept of going back to find out what they did.  The characters are hilarious especially Ken Jeong's Leslie Chow, the effeminate Asian gangster.  I need to see the sequel now.  I give this movie 8/10.

Terra Nova - Genesis (Parts 1 & 2)

Steven Spielberg's prehistoric television series, Terra Nova took a long time to arrive.  To keep it separate from Jurassic Park, he chose to move to Australia to film (plus it's heaps cheaper).  In fact it is made just over an hours drive from my place.  I even know someone who had a credited role int he show.  The only trouble with filming here in Oz is that I don't think we can make television at the same standard as the Americans.  However, I must say, this is the best looking television show ever made in Australia.  This took a long time to come because Mr Spielberg wanted to make sure the special effects are top notch and most of them are good quality but some are still a bit dodgy.  Oh well, apparently you can't have everything!
The season premiere was actually the first two episodes back to back.  The story starts in the year 2149 where the air is polluted and the population is controlled to a maximum of two children at a time.  We open with policeman Jim Shannon, played by Jason O'Mara (Resident Evil: Extinction) arriving home with a special gift for his family, an orange.  They just can't get them anymore.  We meet his family, his scientist/doctor wife, Elisabeth (Shelly Conn from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), his son Josh and daughters Maddy and Zoe.  Yes, they have three children.  Then the population control cops arrive and the Shannon's hide Zoe but she panics and cries and is found.  Jim fights to protect his family but is subdued, arrested and sentenced to prison.
Moving forward six year, Elisabeth is offered a second chance for her and the two eldest children to travel back in time to a place called Terra Nova.  It is a time of a pristine earth with no pollution.  But like any mother, she is not going to leave her family behind and engineers to break her husband out of prison.  As they line up to walk through the portal, Jim is noticed and with a massive backpack, makes a run for it and just gets through the portal.  The air is clean so it makes it hard to breath and Jim is incapacitated.  Guards immediately attack because he is unauthorised and are about to damage the backpack, when they tear it open to reveal Zoe.
The parents are brought before the Commander of Terra Nova, Nathaniel Taylor, a no nonsense leader who while he is not happy about the breach in protocol, is also a realist and is happy he has Mrs Shannon.  He assigns Jim to agricultural duty.  The Commander is played by Stephen Lang, a very similar role he played in Avatar.  I can almost see the casting process: "We need someone like Stephen Lang in Avatar.  Hey, rather than have someone act like Stephen and people draw comparisons, lets just get Stephen Lang!" While both characters have a tough job managing a new protected colony in a jungle infested new world, Commander Taylor is generally a good guy and will get the opportunity to grow as a character throughout the series.  I was half expecting him ot say "Welcome to Pandora!"
The enclosure of Terra Nova is a successfully realised creation made up of the command centre, markets, housing, medical centre/laboratory and fields.  I also like the way they have portrayed the family unit.  Zoe doesn't remember her Dad, Josh is angry that his Dad was sent to prison and left them to fend for themselves, and his wife is a little awkward around him when it comes to sleeping arrangements, especially as Zoe has been sleeping in her Mum's bed for years.
Our family came through the portal as part of the tenth pilgrimage.  The group of people who came through on the sixth pilgrimage where aggressive and tried to take over Terra Nova and were banished for their crimes.  Now they constantly cause problems for the Terra Novans and are called the Sixers.  They have one as a captive, who escapes and tries to kill the Commander, but Jim's police training kicks in and he stops the Sixer.  The Commander is impressed and instead of having to do the back-breaking agricultural work, he assigns Jim to his security detail. They trade the Sixer with his own group for a mineral ore that Terra Nova needs and we get to meet the leader of the Sixers, Mira.
Meanwhile, Josh has met some kids his own age, especially a young lady by the name of Skye, who invites him to come with them to the outside where they have an alcoholic still set up.  While swimming together, Josh and Skye come across some carvings in the rocks that look like mathematical equations.  She asks Josh to not let anyone know they have seen them.  When they go to leave, they find the Sixers have stolen their power cells and are stranded.  And then, they get attacked by some rather nasty dinosaurs!  This scene (while the other kids are annoying) is quite well done.  When the kids can't be found, a rescue mission is launched and Jim and the Commander go in search of the kids, find them just in time (is there any other type?!) and fight off the dinosaurs.
What are the mysterious carvings?  The Commander asks if Skye went to the waterfall and she says no.  Does he believe her?  The episode finishes with Mira looking at the carvings saying they are a part of a plan.
Cool.
I thought this was a pretty damn good start to a promising series.  I will definitely be watching this.  Keep up this level of story, acting and special effects and we might just have a hit on our hands!

Camelot - Reckoning

So we finally get to the last episode of this show (as it turns out) and I think it went out with a bang (so to speak).  In fact I think this was one of the best episodes out of all of them and it shows the wasted potential this show had.
So Arthur has set up a series of traps to fend off the invading army at Broden's Pass single handedly.  While involved in one of these heated one on ones, it appears he is dead and his sword is captured.  A messenger is dispatched immediately to Morgan to let her know that Arthur is dead.  But Arthur is far from dead, and because of his selfless bravery, he is no longer alone.  His knights return to do battle with him and they successfully fight off all of the invaders, but not before one gets off a lucky shot at Arthur.  But the ever loyal Leontes, jumps in front of the bolt and takes the fatal shot himself.  He dies asking his king to look after his wife!
Morgan meanwhile announces to the people of Camelot that their king is dead and asks who should take his place?  Sybil the nun suggests it should be Morgan and the people agree, but before they can crown her, Arthur arrives and takes back his thrown.  In order to protect Morgan, Sybil takes full responsibility for everything and says Morgan knew nothing.  Sybil is taken out to an unmarked grave and beheaded, but not before having it rubbed in that Morgan does not even try to help her and that there is no God.
Meanwhile, Morgan goes to see Igraine and stabs her in her side because she thrust her from her home.  But Igraine shocks her by saying she saved her life, because her father was going to kill her.  She cannot believe this to be true, because if it is, she has just killed someone who did care about her.
Arthur strips Morgan of her title, her claim to the Pendragon name and removes all protection for her castle.  She is on her own.
Merlin announces to Arthur that it is time for him to move on and says his goodbyes.
Later, Morgan visits Sybil's grave and the devil she raised turns up.  She hears a voice tell her to bear a king.  That night, Guinevere turns up to Arthur's chamber and has sex with him.  When she leaves, she is revealed to be Morgan.  So Morgan had sex with her own brother!  By the legend she will bear a child, the evil Mordred, but we will never get to see that storyline, unless Merlin takes a turn for the adult!
This show was such a hit and miss affair.  The reason they gave for no second season was that they could not get all the actors back.  Having killed off most of them or sent them on their way, they didn't need to many of them to return, so I think this is a bit of a cop out.  I believe the show just wasn't that good.  Shame really.  What did everyone else think?

Camelot - The Battle of Bardon Pass

The final night of Camelot finally arrives.  Part one for the night sees Morgan escape Camelot leaving Igraine feeling crazed by seeing herself.  Merlin doesn't believe Igraine at first, saying they had been together the night before, then he realises what Morgan has done.  (I am confused here because I thought he recognised it was Morgan while he was busy having sex with her but chose to keep going!).  They travel to Morgan's castle to confront her and she captures them instead!
Meanwhile, Leontes confronts his wife Guinevere and she cannot lie to him.  He confronts Arthur and Arthur's 'brother' Kay exposes his treachery to his knights, eroding their love for him.
Morgan sets up an attack at Borden Pass, in the hope his knights will not support him as before and that he will be killed so she can take over.  Arthur and his men leave for Borden Pass and Morgan leaves her castle with her captives to await proof Arthur is dead so she can take over.
The battle at Borden Pass is deadly and Kay is struck by an arrow.  He needs to be taken away to be healed.  They realise that one must stay behind if they are to win this fight and Arthur volunteers because his men no longer trust him and he may very well die.  His men leave and he sets about setting traps for his enemy.
As the penultimate episode for this hit and miss series, it certainly sets up the story to finish with a bang, bringing everything to a head and everyone together for the final confrontation.

Parenthood - Forced Family Fun

Crosby arrives at Jasmine's early to find Dr Joe having post-coitus coffee!  The green-eyed monster reveals itself.  Jasmine effectively tells Crosby that Dr Joe will be in her life now and he will need to deal with it.
Sarah is helping Seth through rehab and even cancels a date with Mark to be with Seth in a session.  When she tells Mark why she cancelled at the last minute, he tells her that it will not be OK to do that again.  I think this might foretell something?
Julia tries to talk with Zoe about eating sushi when she is pregnant and even brings in a more healthy lunch, but Zoe does not take it too well.
And speaking of not taking things too well, Kristina finally releases some pent up frustration this week.  She tries unsuccessfully to spend some quality time with her family and cooks them breakfast but none of them can stay.  She then organises a night of min-golf but they complain so much in the car, she finally explodes and throws them ALL out of the car and she goes to golf with just herself and Nora!!  Loved this!  Maybe they might appreciate her more.  Why did she have to apologise though?
An OK episode, but I hope things pick up again soon.