Category Archives: Reviews

Falling Skies – Premiere (Live and Learn/The Armory) Review

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‘After an unprovoked and devastating alien invasion of Earth leaves the planet in tatters, the remaining humans must learn to work together and fight the aliens if they are to continue to exist. Former history professor Tom Mason as Second In Command of the 2nd Mass must juggle his duties as leader with his duties as a father to his 3 sons, one of whom is being held captive by the aliens.‘

I’m a big fan of science fiction and I’m always on the lookout for new shows, but I must admit that I hadn’t heard a thing about Falling Skies until it actually came out. While I’m glad that more science fiction is making it to TV, I want it to be quality drama.

Unfortunately, this premiere didn’t Continue reading →

Scott Pilgrim vs The World Guest Review

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Another guest review from Lindsay. – Al

Scott Pilgrim vs The World

Writer: Michael Bacall & Edgar Wright; Brian Lee O’Malley (original comic)

Director: Edgar Wright

Starring: Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, everyone under 30 in hollywood who’s awesome.

Year: 2010

There is a fundamental core audience to this flick (and the original graphic novels from Oni Press) and I want to make something perfectly clear: I am not a part of it.

O’Malley has always been upfront about the fact Continue reading →

The Hangover Guest Review

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Another guest review from Lindsay. My reviews will resume next week. – Al

The Hangover

Starring: Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, Heather Graham

Writers: Jon Lucas, Scott Moore

Director: Todd Phillips

Year: 2009

If amnesia can be this much fun I should try whackin’ my head more often.

The setup couldn’t have been more basic: Guy’s getting married; friends take him Continue reading →

Gamer Guest Review

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Another guest review from Lindsay. – Al

Gamer

Writers/Directors: Mark Neveldine, Brian Taylor

Starring: Gerard Butler, Michael C. Hall

Year: 2009

I think Gerard Butler may be the greatest actor of all time. If there is another guy out there who can retain credible action status after starting with Dracula 2000 and moving through rom-com dross like P.S. I Love You and The Ugly Truth then we may be closer to creating a perfect race of atomic supermen than I thought.

None of that has any bearing on Gamer. I just think he’s awesome.

Gamer essentially finishes Continue reading →

Outlander Guest Review

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This is the first of what will hopefully be many guest reviews by my friend Lindsay. – Al

Outlander

Writers: Dirk Blackman & Howard McCain

Director: Howard McCain

Starring: Jim Caviezel, Sophia Myles, John Hurt

Year: 2008

A human-looking alien is transporting a vicious not-human-looking alien in his ship when he falls asleep at the console and drifts off the road and hits a planet.

Our planet.

Only this time he doesn’t have to convince those pesky Continue reading →

SpaceChem Review

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‘SpaceChem is an obscenely addictive, design-based puzzle game about building machines and fighting monsters in the name of science!‘

Puzzle games have a fine line to walk. Often they’re so frustrating that you’re more annoyed with yourself rather than pleased when you actually solve the puzzle, but just as often your hand is held so much that you don’t really feel like you’ve accomplished anything in solving the puzzle. SpaceChem is a fantastic puzzler that manages to walk on the harder side of the line, but not frustratingly so.

After hearing several people raving about Continue reading →

Sherlock – The Great Game Review

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‘Sherlock investigates the murder of a young civil servant and soon finds himself in a battle of wits with a deranged bomber who sets a series of escalating challenges for the consultant detective.‘

Sherlock - The Great Game

The third episode of Sherlock really steps up the pace of the show, which is fitting for a season finale. Rather than following the clues for one big mystery we see Holmes in overdrive as he has to solve a series of mysteries to get to the mastermind behind everything.

While Watson took centre stage for The Blind Banker, The Great Game is definitely Continue reading →

Mythbusters – Paper Armor Review

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‘Adam and Jamie explore the physics of shock waves in water, while Kari, Grant and Tory find out if paper battle armor can compare to steel.‘

Mythbusters - Depth Charge Disaster

Paper Armor

I love it when the Mythbusters do historical myths. These are usually the most fun myths to watch, and it is interesting on a historical level as well. The Ancient Korean Hwacha in particular was one of my favourite myths in recent years.

The myth on display here was actually one that Continue reading →

Transformers – Dark of the Moon Review

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‘The Autobots learn of a Cybertronian spacecraft hidden on the Moon, and race against the Decepticons to reach it and to learn its secrets.‘

I’ll admit going into this review that I have a huge amount of nostalgia for the Transformers. The cartoon was the show of my childhood. This means that I’ve given the Michael Bay movies a bit of an easier time than I might have otherwise. While the movies have had plenty of problems (particularly the second one), they’ve been a bit of a guilty pleasure for me.

While I’m sure a franchise that makes this much money Continue reading →

Sherlock – The Blind Banker Review

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‘Sherlock and Watson work on deciphering deadly symbols that are covering the walls around London, killing everyone who sees them within hours, before any further victim succumbs to the mysterious Black Lotus.‘

Sherlock - The Blind Banker

After the fantastic pilot episode, The Blind Banker had a lot to live up to. While it wasn’t quite as good as the first one this second installment is definitely great television. Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman have the sort of chemistry on-screen that usually only comes after years of working together.

Once again, the relationship between Holmes and Watson takes centre stage. Their dealings with Continue reading →