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TV: Warrior Nun and NOS4A2

Still in lockdown here… Here’s another roundup of television shows I’ve been watching lately.

Read More Television I think the show’s title, Devs, is a bad one. I didn’t know what that title would imply, and it took a lot of recommendations from friends and family, before I begrudgingly decided to check it out. Spoiler alert, I really love Devs. …

WARRIOR NUN
netflix.com

Many of you know that I started collecting comics in 1985. At the height of my collecting days, particularly in the 90s, there were many independent publishers cashing in on the crazy comic book explosion. I remember seeing Antarctic Press’ Warrior Nun Areala by Ben Dunn hitting the market in the mid-90s. I thought the concept was silly, taking two mis-matching things and combining it. A fighter nun? It’s fun, like a fast-moving turtle.

I’ve picked up a few of Ben Dunn’s comics, Ninja High School (Eternity Comics) and the giant-robot series Dynamo Joe (First Comics), so I was already familiar with his anime/manga influence. What I liked about what he was doing was taking something from Japan and adding a Western flair. They even had a term for this type of mashup, calling it “Amerimanga”.

I suppose his creation Warrior Nun Areala is his biggest hit, considering that Netflix produced the television show Warrior Nun by Simon Barry. Although the show’s story is different than the original comic book, the television show did borrow a lot of concept of the Warrior Nuns mythology. You don’t need to know the comic book when you’re watching the show, as it’s almost two different entities.

The Warrior Nun show is about a long-running Warrior Nun order, defending the world against Hell, thanks to their training and a leader with the power of the Halo. In the pilot, their leader is killed and the nuns hid the Halo in recently deceased orphan named Ava Silva. The Halo resurrected Ava and, thus, her reluctant adventures with the Warrior Nun began.

The only Eastern-influence in the show seems to boil down to many of its fight sequences (which are actually really good). There’s something badass about nuns doing Kung-Fu and taking down groups of enemies.

The story is not amazing and its portrayal of the Catholic is unrealistic, but if you can look past the silly idea of battle/weapon-cladded nuns, you’ll have a good time.

NOS4A2
amc.com

I hate the spelling of NOS4A2. I can never spell it and I can’t really wrap my head on how it is supposed to sound like “Nosferatu”.

The second season just started on NOS4A2 on AMC, and I’m eager to see how the show will end. If you didn’t know, Season 1 of NOS4A2 was only the first half of Joe Hill’s novel. Season 2 is suppose to end the series (I do not believe there will be a Season 3).

If you’re not caught up, NOS4A2 is a story about Vic McQueen, a girl with the ability to travel anywhere using her “knife” and her Shorter Way bridge. She soon discovers Charlie Manx, who feeds on the souls of children using his Rolls-Royce Wraith, and is determined to stop Manx.

The title is a little misleading, as NOS4A2 is the license plate, and that Manx is not really a true vampire - at least not in the traditional way. His victim-children lives in “Christmasland”, and resembles nightmarish vampire-like children (complete with sharp pointy teeth)… but, again, not traditional vampires.

If you’re a fan of Locke & Key, I think you’ll enjoy NOS4A2. So far, only three episodes of Season 2 of NOS4A2 have aired. Some episodes are a miss for me, particularly the additional backstory of Charlie Manx, which was told in Season 1, but expanded for Season 2. I just had no interest in his life before becoming the monstrous Wraith character.

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Weekend Gamer: The Witcher 3 on Nintendo Switch

Read More Games I'm a big fan of CD Projekt, the maker of the Witcher series. One of the main reasons is that they allow their games to be played offline on a PC, which is how I prefer to play my games. In return, I'll always support the software company …

I haven’t played The Witcher 3 since May 2015 (when it first came out on PC). I honestly can’t remember if I ever beat it, as I’m the type of player that wants to close out all quests before taking that final battle. Certainly, I got really, really far into it… and reconsidered playing it again when the Expansions and DLC came out a year later.

When The Witcher television show came out last year on Netflix, there was a massive uptick on newfound fans playing the game again. That’s because, like the game, the show was very well done and had a compelling story.

So… why am I playing The Witcher 3 again? Partly because I’ve forgotten almost everything about the game, but also because I started playing The Witcher 3 on the Nintendo Switch in 15 to 30-minute increments at work. It’s slow-going, but I have limited time with it.

To get the massive game on the Switch, the developer had to make sacrifices, so, as a result, the game looks incredible ugly, compared to its PS4, Xbox, and PC versions. If you can get past the low resolution and junky details… it is nice to get the game on a mobile device. Alternatively, if you have the first generation Switch, you can always dock it to the television and play the game with a traditional game controller - but it’ll still looks fugly compared to the modern consoles.

The other thing about the Switch version is that the loading time is much slower compared to the PC version (especially with NVME storage).

There is cross-save between the Switch and GOG version for The Witcher 3, which is pretty amazing when it works.

How to use Cross Save on the Nintendo Switch:

1. On the Main Menu, chose “CLOUD SAVES”
2. Choose STEAM or GOG.COM
3. Log in with your credential
4. Choose STANDARD EDITION or GOTY EDITION
5. Choose LOAD GAME or UPLOAD

There is no automatic Cloud Saves, so you’ll have to manually do this every time you decide to go back and forth.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ facebook.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Read More Netflix Critics absolutely hates Netflix’s The Witcher. The reason is that they don’t generally love the source material (a series of fantasy books) and they don’t play the video games. …

INTO THE NIGHT
netflix.com

Into the Night is Netflix’s first Belgian original series. The apocalyptic sci-fi thriller is based on Polish science fiction novel The Old Axolotl by Jacek Dukaj.

The show starts off with a NATO officer hijacking a commercial flight to try and escape the sun, which he heard from NATO scientists that the sun was killing humans. This set off a frantic race against the sun, with no plan and intense drama between the passengers. Every episode ends with this throbbing electronic beat that begs the viewer to play the next episode to find out where the next destination the plane will land.

One of most interesting thing about the story, and it’s not just about how everyone is going to survive, but the fact that all the passengers are interesting and diverse. We have a racist security guard, an airport cleaner, an ex-helicopter pilot with nothing to live for, a co-pilot, a stewardess, a Russian mother and her sick son, an internet celebrity, a nurse, a Turkish gangster, a mechanic… plus a few other surprises as the plane picks up three surviving passengers.

Details:

Into the Night
2020 TV-MA

Passengers and crew aboard a hijacked overnight flight scramble to outrace the sun as a mysterious cosmic event wreaks havoc on the world below.

Starring: Pauline Etienne, Laurent Capelluto, Stefano Cassetti
Creators: Jason George

Read More Snowpiercer Sounds like a heavy metal band doesn't it? Well I just saw the uncut version of Snowpiercer film. I think it's good, and I'm compelled to write about it. I didn't know it was based on a French comic book (Le Transperceneige), but you don't …

SNOWPIERCER
tntdrama.com

Based on both the South Korean film Snowpiercer and French comic book Le Transperceneige, this TNT television show debut on May 17, 2020, a few weeks earlier than their original May 30 poster date.

I have not read the comic book, but I love the movie. Unfortunately, the movie doesn’t explain too much about the people in the last car of the train. The TV show does a better job explaining that they were basically stowaways.

With more time, due to the nature of episodic television, the show will explore and give better background to the people on the train. With 1,000 cars to explore, we have a long way to go before we reach the engine room.

Like the movie, and the original source material, the story is really a commentary on class system.

The show focused on an ex-homicide detective from the tail end investigating a serial killer loose on the train. We’ve only seen the pilot, and it’s good so far.

Details:

Set more than seven years after the world has become a frozen wasteland, Snowpiercer centers on the remnants of humanity who inhabit a perpetually moving train, with 1001 cars, that circles the globe. Class warfare, social injustice and the politics of survival play out in this riveting television adaptation based on the critically acclaimed graphic novel series and film of the same name.

STUMPTOWN
abc.com

ABC recently announced that they’ve renewed Stumptown for a season two in 2020 (or 2021 due to the CORVID-19 pandemic). In case you didn’t know, this show is based on the comic book series of the same name, created by Greg Rucka, Matthew Southworth and Justin Greenwood.

If Rucka’s name sounds familiar, that’s because he wrote some great Detective Comics, Wonder Woman, and his first comic Whiteout was made into a movie, starring Kate Beckinsale. Netflix is also in line to release The Old Guard, starring Charlize Theron, based on Rucka’s comic book! Rucka is red-hot at the moment.

Anyway, Stumptown is about an ex-military-turned-private investigator Dex Parios, living in Portland, Oregon. The other star of the show is actually her dumpy car with a cassette player that will constantly play 80s hits.

About:

Dex Parios is a sharp-witted veteran with a complicated love life, gambling debt and a brother to take care of. Her skills make her a great PI, but her style puts her in the firing line.

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Sci-Fi and Fantasy Television shows of 2019

Watchmen Read More Watchmen Anyway, I'll be taking it easy today, maybe re-read The Watchmen as I just saw the movie in theater over the weekend and was really impressed. As an old comic book fan (especially when it comes to the genius of Alan Moore), I loved it - …

Read more Television.

WATCHMEN
hbo.com/watchmen

HBO’s Watchmen Television show is possibly my favorite TV show of 2019.

The TV show expands on the influential Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons comic book… and it totally works. Instead of re-telling the story in a television format (like how the movie retold the graphic novel), what the show producers did was tell a different story – one set 30 years after the original event. And they honor the original work, by keep in the giant squid monster and going with that idea (in the movie, they changed the ending). It’s clear to me, based on all the homages that the writers all knew (and are fans) of the source material. It’s the love of those things that expands into their story.

One of the coolest thing they did in the show was give Hooded Justice an origin story. And you’ll never guess who and why he wears the hood! It’s unbelievable smart how they answered all the questions you may or may not have about the first “super hero”. In the comic book, they reference the original Minutemen, but you never really got much of a back story for any of those characters… so it’s very cool that the TV show explored Hooded Justice.

As a big fan of the graphic novel, I’m going to have to give it a big thumbs up. I love the comic book, and seeing that story taken to the next step, I love it. Unfortunately, I feel sometime that fans unfamiliar with the comic book (or have only seen the movie), might not fully enjoy all the little Easter “Eggs”, or somewhat complicated plot in the show. The show might be too clever for the average viewer.

I don’t think show creator, Damon Lindelof, should do a Season 2, there’s really no good reasons for them to continue this story.

Witcher Read More The Witcher I also picked up The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, at Walmart, which came with a lot of bonus items like a DVD and Soundtrack (all at the normal cost of a game product). They are on the right track, I definitely …

WITCHER
netflix.com

Critics absolutely hates Netflix’s The Witcher. The reason is that they don’t generally love the source material (a series of fantasy books) and they don’t play the video games. Since they don’t know the books or games, there’s a disconnect and they’re just lost and confused. One critic was so bored, he or she skipped a few episodes to get the plot moving. One critic just cringed at all the nudity.

Sure, there’s nudity, and actress Anya Chalotra (Yennefer) is very comfortable in her birthday suit, but who cares? I didn’t mind it and I think it’s true to the Witcher universe.

I think the biggest problem I have with the show is that I might know too much about the world of the Witcher (via the CD Projekt Red’s games) and was very disappointed to see that the actress (Anna Shaffer) that played Triss Merigold isn’t a redhead (as seen in the game).

I also have a certain vision of Ciri (from the game) that didn’t entirely matched with actress Freya Allan. I know not everyone is going look like the video game, but c’mon, Henry Cavill, is a straight match for the video game version of Geralt of Rivia, even down his “hmph” and talking to Roach, his horse.

I guess it just comes down to if the actress is good, it shouldn’t matter what they look like.

Anyway, the wide divide of critics vs fans is obvious to me - this genre television is meant for fans and clearly not directed to “professional” critics. If you look at Rotten Tomatoes, this divide is also seen in The Orville (fans love it, critics hated it) and Batwoman (fans hated it, critics loved it). As a fan of the game and television, I would have to think that the critics just don’t understand.

Expanse Season 4 Read More The Expanse Song of the Show: "Heroes" by David Bowie BONUS: The Walking Dead: Season 6 (part one), The Expanse. …

EXPANSE
amazon.com

Possibly the best Science Fiction television show on air right now is The Expanse (no, it’s not Star Trek: Discovery). As I previously mentioned, I love this show.

In the world of the Expanse, there are three major factions: Earth, Mars, and the Belters… and the show is so smart (or rather the books it was based on is so smart), that it looks the long-term effect of living without gravity, etc.

Originally, SyFy produced the show. It was probably too expensive for the network and probably wasn’t worth what they were paying for their audience. The show looks fantastic, and the stories are amazing.

Admittedly, the show does take a little patience. The first three season of the Expanse is actually just the “setup” to what the Expanse is really about! It’s so epic, that it took that long to get to the point. Unfortunately, right when they got to the new worlds - SyFy cancelled the series!

There was a massive campaign, put on by the fans, to get another network to continue the series. Through a random chance meeting with the cast, Amazon’s founder Jeff Bezos, he decided to just finance the fourth season!

The fourth season sees our favorite crew, James Holden and his crew (Naomi Nagata, Alex Kamal, and Amos Burton) investigating this new planet. There’s complications, of course, Belters vs the Earths (Royal Charter Energy), and Holden caught in the middle.

My biggest complaint about Season 4 is that it seemed like a really short story. They’re basically stuck on this planet and eventually in these ancient ruins (built by the original creators).

My other complaint is the storyline with Bobbie Draper on Mars. It just felt like it wasn’t going anywhere… I know eventually her path will lead back to Holden, but it’s not in Season 4.

I love seeing Detective Joe Miller back, and I love the new villain, head security Adolphus Murtry. Although, if you ask him, he doesn’t think he’s the bad guy, he’s only looking to protect his crew.

Anyway, give me more Expanse!

Mr Robot Season 4 Read More Mr Robot After resisting the television show Mr Robot on USA Network, I gave in and watched the first season. It was pretty good, it did remind me of plot from Fight Club... and despite figuring out the “twist” midway into the first season …

MR ROBOT
usanetwork.com

I love Mr Robot. After a long two-year break, I was ready to get back into Mr Robot on its final season.

Unfortunately, I have not been loving Season 4 at all. I feel like maybe they kept digging a hole in the story, especially since they setup one lone hacker, Elliot Alderson against the Dark Army (a cyber-terrorist organization of hardcore killers and assassins). There’s no contest… and the only reason why Elliot is alive is that BD Wong (aka Whiterose) is allowing him to live.

I understand it’s just a television show, but I’ve always thought the story and characters were grounded in reality and I can relate to the interesting hacks that Elliot was pulling off.

With Season 4, the story appears to take place in the course of a day or two days - leading up to Christmas. In those few days, you see that Elliot does sleep or eat all day! There was that getting lost in a park in the middle of nowhere, the big police chase, getting kidnapped, and then the big White Rose hack. I mean, take a break from getting hit by a car and falling down a bridge!!! It’s just hard to believe.

The show also feels very different, starting with the episode with Darlene and Dominique. That ending of will they or won’t they make it on the plane is just awful. It’s like some bad romantic comedy.

Then there’s this alternate dimension episode, which felt really out of place for Mr Robot! I couldn’t believe it, and it just didn’t make any sense.

The final two episodes will air tonight (December 22nd), and, as of this writing, I have not seen it yet… but I’m not exactly looking forward to finding out how it will end.

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Best horror television shows of 2018

Read More Television Originally meant to air in 2019, SyFy released their pilot episode of Deadly Class early on their website (December 20). The show is based on the 2014 Image Comics book the same name by Rick Remender and Wesley Craig. …

Here are the best horror television shows of 2018.

Read more: Comic book-related television shows (2018), Comic book-related television shows (2017), and DC Comics to Films (and TV) in 2016.




CHANNEL ZERO
syfy.com

If you like horror, you really need to check out SyFy’s Channel Zero. This is, by far, my favorite horror show. Each season is a new storyline, so you don’t have to watch them from the first season to the latest. In fact, as much as the man made of tooth is super scary, I would recommend starting with No-End House (Season 2), as that is just a wonderful story.

There’s really not a bad season, although I do admit sometime pacing of the show may be slow, but they all work out in the end.

Since I recently saw The Dream Door (Season 4), that’s still fresh in my mind. It’s about a girl who can bring her imagination to life, by creating these odd “dream doors”. The imaginary creatures in the show is frightening.

What I didn’t know is that these shows are based on something called “creepypastas”, a term that I’ve never heard of before. The word describes “horror-related legends or images that have been copied and pasted around the Internet.” If you’ve heard of Slenderman, he’s actually one of the more famous creepypasta creation.

Nightflyers

NIGHTFLYERS
syfy.com/nightflyers

Also, on SyFy, is Nightflyers, the new television series based on George R.R. Martin’s book and short stories. If you think this is “Game of Thrones in Space”, it is not. This is basically a horror show, set in space.

Since I haven’t read the books, going in on the pilot was very confusing. The filmmaker decided to show us the ending of Nightflyers in the pilot, and for the remainder of the series, it’s building up to that endpoint. I did not love that, considering that I now have knowledge of who is a psycho and who will die.

The show is about the spaceship Nightflyer, flying to make contact with this alien species. They think their best chance of communicating with the aliens is to bring on a telepath (they’re called “L1” in this world). Unfortunately, the show decided to bring on a crazy, mentally unstable (even dangerous) L1.

Watching the show, and watching every character being tortured in some ways, made me think: why can’t they

Anyway, it’s a weird GRRM future, with computerized human, bee lady, laser spiders, etc. The ending of the first season kind of leaves it open for season 2... which I am assuming will continue the story (but I think it should’ve ended with Season 1).

Nightflyers

INTO THE DARK
hulu.com/into-the-dark

Airing once a month, each episode of Into the Dark’s theme is about the month’s holiday. For example, the first episode, “The Body” took place on Halloween night. Since each episode is self-contained, it can be really long (some running over 90 minutes).

So far, all of the episodes are pretty quirky and interesting and worth checking out, if you have a Hulu subscription.

My least favorite episode is probably “New Year, New You”, simply because it’s about these girl internet celebrities, which I can’t really relate to at all.

With Valentine’s Day coming up, I’ll be very interested in seeing how the show deal with that holiday.

The Terror

THE TERROR
amc.com/shows/the-terror

Although the ending to AMC’s The Terror wasn’t at all what I had expected, the lead up to the show is actually very horrifying. It’s a very slow burn, but definitely worth checking out if you like horror/drama shows.

I actually thought the show was interesting enough to buy on Digital, but probably won’t bother with the discs.

The first season is based on Dan Simmons’ 2007 best-selling novel, about Captain Sir John Franklin's lost expedition to the Arctic in 1845–1848. Since the show ended definitively, so I’m not exactly sure how AMC is bringing the show back with another season in 2019.

Haunting of Hill House

THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE
netflix.com

The Haunting of Hill House is a long, re-imagining of the Shirley Jackson’s 1959 novel of the same name. It’s a haunted house show, but actually the majority of the show is in flashback. The family all moved out of the haunted house years later... but events all lead them back to Hill House.

The show is recommended if you enjoy ghost stories, but sometime the whole supernatural-thing doesn’t really make a lot of sense to me. Everything ties up neatly at the end, where you get the whole explanation.

Even though the horror elements are truly terrifying, the heart of the show is the family.




WORST HORROR SHOWS OF 2018: I won’t go too deeply into it, but I really, really hated the last Fear the Walking Dead and latest The Walking Dead series. It’s a huge fall from grace, as these shows were, at one time, very good. So what happened? Since the showrunning brought over Morgan to Fear, they killed off the entire original cast and made Fear into Walking Dead. Meanwhile, Walking Dead continues its terrible Negan storyline. I’ve been sick of Negan, and it’s all we got for the past three years: Negan, Negan, Negan. Unfortunately, with Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) leaving the show (to star in his own Walking Dead movies), I “fear” that the Walking Dead will now become the Negan show. Yuck.

Also, Hulu’s Castle Rock is just not very good. The concept is pretty cool, especially because it’s based on the characters and stories of Stephen King... but the execution is just not that great. The same can be said for all of Stephen King’s TV adaptions (The Mist television show in 2017 or Under The Dome in 2015). King’s stories just don’t translate well to television, I guess.

NOT HORROR SHOWS OF 2018: This isn’t really a horror show, but everyone is saying that Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is “horror”. There may be elements of spirits and demons, but I think it’s just too cute to classify it as horror. The other “horror” show that everyone loves is Ash vs Evil Dead. While I am a fan of the movies, I think the show is just too goofy and funny to be horror. Maybe more comedy than horror. It’s not a great show, and I’m kind of glad that they have canceled the series (even though I own all three seasons on Bluray and digital!)

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Comic book-related television shows (2018)

Read More Television I did enjoy The Punisher quite a bit, which was a win, considering that I thought Iron Fist and The Defenders were lackluster. Ever since The Punisher appeared on Daredevil, I knew he would spin off in his own series… …

As you may have noticed, I’m still in hibernation mode. Not going on and going on “staycation” have left me plenty of time for some gaming and watching plenty of television.

If you were interested in checking out Comic Book shows (2017), where we mentioned: The Punisher, Happy!, The Gifted, The Runaways, and the really disappointing The Inhumans.

Below are some recent 2018 comic book-based television shows.



DEADLY CLASS
syfy.com/deadlyclass

Originally meant to air in 2019, SyFy released their pilot episode of Deadly Class early on their website (December 20). The show is based on the 2014 Image Comics book the same name by Rick Remender and Wesley Craig.

I haven’t read the comic book, but watching the show sounds like “The Breakfast Club” for Assassin School. It’s based in the 80s, so there’s plenty of great 80s alternative songs on the soundtrack, including The Cure and Echo and the Bunnymen.

Perhaps the reason why SyFy is airing Deadly Class early, is to distance themselves from the upcoming Netflix’s Umbrella Academy (another school show - for Superheroes).

A couple of things worth noting: (1) former Black Flag singer Henry Rollins is the Science teacher and (2) a character referenced Chris Claremont and John Byrne’s classic X-Men run.

So far: I’m hooked! I can’t wait to see the second episode in 2019.

Sabrina

THE CHILLING ADVENTURES OF SABRINA
netflix.com

Not the first television show based on Archie Comics’ favorite witch Sabrina. This new Netflix show The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is actually pretty good, thanks to its excellent writing team and lead actress Kiernan Shipka. The first season ended well and the special Christmas show A Midwinter's Tale arrived just before Christmas.

The show is not exactly horror, but is a cross between Harry Potter and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Think of it as part of the Riverdale universe, only I don’t think we’re going to see a crossover anytime soon.

You can’t take show too seriously, but it isn’t exactly comedy either.

Titans

TITANS
dcuniverse.com

Titans was originally meant to air when DC Comics’ DC Universe launched in September, but instead was delayed a month because DC wanted to premiere it at New York Comic Con. I think it was a bad mistake, because the service launched with basically no original content, other than the 20-30 minute daily news show called DC Daily (which actually was put online for free).

Before finding its home on DC’s streaming service, the show was in development for TNT. Ultimately, TNT turned down the show... and based on the episodes I did watch, I can see why. It’s slow, and it’s unnecessary violent.

According to the showrunners, the show is based on Marv Wolfman and George Perez’s New Teen Titans, but with a much, much darker tone. The problem is that the Teen Titans have never been this super violent before (we’re talking about Robin stabbing a guy’s penis with a hedge trimmers or scrapping a guy’s face across a wall). Needless to say, I am a fan of the source material, but this TV show isn’t really a faithful adaption at all.

While there are fans of this new Titans show, I found it really disappointing. On top of that, the show ended an episode early (originally 12 episodes, but cut down to 11). There’s no real resolve, and fans will have to wait a full year to find out what happened next.

Fans outside of the USA, International Netflix is premiering the show on January 11, 2019.

Black Lightning

BLACK LIGHTNING
cwtv.com

I actually forgotten about this CW’s show Black Lightning, which debut in January 2018 to strong interests. The show is predominately a black cast (with plenty of hip-hop and modern black culture), definitely a first to stand out against the rest of CW’s shows: Arrow, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow, The Flash, etc.

My favorite thing about Black Lightning are the villains: Tobias Whale (an albino black character who hates/looks down on his fellow black gangbangers) and Syonide a mysterious assassin (originally male in the comics!).

Unfortunately the villains couldn’t save the show for me, I just stopped watching it, because the storyline felt somewhat boring to me. I would have really love a show about a black man struggling in a white man world, but instead, it’s typical CW super heroes stories. When they planted the seed that his daughters would become Thunder and Lightning, it’s almost too cheesy, and I just dropped out.

Again, I love the villains, but the standard super-hero stuff was just a little predictable to me and I just stopped watching it.

Cloak & Dagger

CLOAK & DAGGER
freeform.go.com

Originally, I was really excited to check out Cloak & Dagger, available on Freeform. However, after watching the first few episodes, it just didn’t reel me in. Maybe it’s because I couldn’t relate to either characters (a rich girl or an athlete).

Also, the pacing seems really slow to me, but critics loved it and Freeform has already renewed the show for a second season - to air in July 2019.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Har Mar Superstar on MST3K The Return

Read More MST3K What happened after Mystery Science Theater 3000 disappeared from television? In geek communities it never quite went away, but the men behind the robots peanut gallery, Michael Nelson … Har Mar Superstar Har Mar Superstar is a staple in the Minnesota music scene. Even though he moved away for a couple of years, we claimed him as ours. He announced earlier this week that he was moving back … Shaw Brothers Associated Press is reporting that Run Run Shaw has passed away at the age of 106 (the report lists 107, but he was born .…

If you watched Netflix’s Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Return, which premiered April 14th, you may have noticed that, in fact, Har Mar Superstar co-sing the new theme song!

Super Inframan

What is even funnier is that Har Mar’s onscreen band is actually the evil minions from the Shaw Brothers’ film Super Inframan (1975). I had to dust out my DVD copy from Image Entertainment (US version) to make sure I wasn’t seeing things.

The Hong Kong classic was basically a knock off of Japan’s Kamen Rider (aka Mask Rider) and proved that the Shaw Brothers were simply terrible at making these science fiction films. Simply one of the cheesiest film you’ll see from a SB production.

Anyway, the new MST3K series was a result of overwhelming fan support from their Kickstarter in November 2015. Production ran over a year, and eventually all 14 episodes were sold to Netflix for distribution. Hopefully, like Orange is the New Black and House of Cards, we may see MST3K The Return on Bluray discs a year from now.

Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Return details

The cult hit returns! Captured by mad scientists, new host Jonah survives a blitz of cheesy B movies by riffing on them with his funny robot pals.

Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Return

Starring: Felicia Day, Patton Oswalt, Jonah Ray

Genres: TV Shows, TV Comedies, TV Sci-Fi & Fantasy

2017 | TV-14 | 1 Season

Har Mar Superstar on MST3K

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Harbinger Down

Read More Films Night of the Living Deb is a delightful "Zom-Rom-Com" (Zombie Romantic Comedy) film starring Maria Thayer as local camerawoman Deborah and Michael Cassidy as Ryan. …

If you were wondering about all these films we're reviewing, especially because they are not sold in stores, it is because sometime we believe in a film so much we decide to put money behind it and help bring the filmmaker's vision to screen.

The latest film we help Kickstart is Harbinger Down, a sci-fi monster film by Alec Gillis. What set this film apart from all modern movie is that the filmmakers and producers were determined to do the entire film using practical effects. Everything in the film were created by StudioADI using animatronics, prosthetic makeup, miniature effects and even stop motion.

Unfortunately, that's the only really cool thing about the movie; Harbinger Down, as a standard horror film, just wasn't very good... despite starring lead actor Lance Henriksen (from Alien and Millennium television series), as boat captain Graff. Camille Balsamo, who co-starred as Graff's daughter in the film, was just too perfect-looking in the film, and her acting was just too melodramatic. I guess she was just too pretty for me to believe her to be a scientist.

The other big problem with the film is that it took forever to get the film going. It felt like maybe it took the film nearly 20 minutes to find the monster in the ice. It's not for another 25 minutes do we see the first death. Look, if you are going to make a monster film, just maybe cut all the backstory and introduce the threat and death right away.

The film also felt eerie similar to John Carpenter's The Thing, both in story and the monster. There's a reason for this, the team (ADI) behind the monster was originally hired by Universal Studio to create the effects for the 2011 The Thing prequel. Since the studio made the wrong decision to go the computer generated imagery route, ADI was able save and later re-use their monster in Harbinger Down.

Harbinger Down is not a great film, but we are glad to be part of bringing the film to Bluray. Our copy did not contain subtitles or audio commentaries, so the release is pretty bare-bones. If you don't mind a DVD-only copy, the DVD can be purchased on Amazon. If you prefer to stream, Harbinger Down is available on Netflix.

Harbinger Down: Camille Balsamo and Lance Henriksen

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Digital Movie Rentals

Midnight Movies: Patient Eye

Digital streaming movies. I've been thinking about this a lot lately ever since the Playstation 3 offered Hulu Plus, Netflix, and Vudu, on its network. This is interesting because Sony has their own digital movie rental, so these other streaming options are direct competition to Sony.

These on-demand rentals are still pretty expensive, considering if you rent a DVD from a Redbox it's $1 for 24 hours. What you are getting per rental is that it's fast and easy, although personally, if you want the best deal for the highest definition, you're probably better off buying or renting the bluray. I'm sorry, but having tested out these "HD" services, watching it on disc is far superior. Plus, you also need a really fast internet connection (read: at least 7mps download to watch these movies in HD). Currently only Vudu offers 1080p, the other services top out at 720p.

I tested out Blockbuster's services and discovered that you actually could not fast-forward or rewind if you choose to watch instantly. You can let it download the movie before watching to get those feature. I was also disappointed that the movies aren't in hi-def.

I also tested out Vudu's services, it's fast, but at even at my Comcrap's internet connection, I could not maintain 1080, I had to reduce it to 720p. I like Vudu, but it's kind of expensive.

I'm still going to stick to renting or buying discs. The best streaming deal is still Netflix, but unfortunately most of the good stuff aren't available for streaming and you still have to wait a full month. Still, for $7.99 a month, it's not a bad deal.

Services	NETFLIX	HULU	VUDU	APPLE TV	BLOCKBUSTER / PLAYSTATION / OTHER
Prices:	$7.99 a month for unlimited streaming	$8.99 a month gets you full seasons of television shows	HDX: $5.99, HD: $4.99. Own: $9.99 to $19.99	HD: $4.99. Own: $9.99 to $19.99	HD: $5.99, SD: $3.99. Own: $9.99 to $19.99
Pros:	Available everywhere, including PS3, Xbox, and iPad. Cheap plan (the lowest is unlimited streaming for $7.99 a month).	Free to view, if you watch it on your computer.	Blockbuster movies available in high definition.	Apple's content is exclusive to Apple hardware.	Availability of most movies on the day of release.
Cons:	Lots of movies are still DVD-only and you have to wait 28 days before it's available for rental or streaming.	Price is too high, plus you have to watch advertisements. Also content is mostly television.	Price for HDX movies (1080p streaming) is $5.99 per movie	> Apple's content is exclusive to Apple hardware.	Most of their movies are only standard definition. Newer movies are available in HD, but you have to wait for it to download enough to buffer.

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Free is good

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - Cardinal Rules

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin

POLYVINYL
One of Kateg's favorite label, Polyvinyl, is offering a free 16-track album at polyvinylrecords.com/mentalmath. The sampler includes a ton of bands we've previously covered: Architecture In Helsinki, Mates of State, Asobi Seksu, Headlights - just to name a few.

Incidentally, one of those band, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin are on tour:

12/02/09 Outland* Springfield, MO
12/06/09 Binghamton University Vestal, NY
12/07/09 Bell House Brooklyn, NY
12/08/09 Summit Columbus, OH
12/09/09 Bishop Bloomington, IN
12/12/09 Outland Ballroom Springfield, MO
01/13/10 Maxine’s Pub Hot Springs, AK
01/23/10 Gallery Sounds Collective Springfield, MO
01/28/10 Schubas EARLY ALL AGES SHOW Chicago, IL
01/29/10 Courtyard Cafe Champaign, IL
01/30/10 Mojo’s Columbia, MO
01/31/10 Jackpot Lawrence, KS

* SSLYBY 10th Anniversary show with Brian Azevedo and Lamentia

We are going to cover the all-ages show at the Bell House in New York.

The Young Punx - Simple Pleasures/Like Dat

THE YOUNG PUNX
I got a download sample and press release for this band's latest "double a-side single" for Simple Pleasures/Like Dat. Generally, I am not accepting singles, remixes, or demos, but since I did enjoy their previous single for "Your Music is Killing Me" and "You've Got To" (especially the Norman Cook aka Fatboy Slim remix), I did give these two new songs a listen.

What can I say ? I really dig the old-school punk intro, followed by this weird 80s pop singing, then some rasta-thing. Not really sure what to classify the whole thing, except that it's quite dancey. As for "Like Dat", I wasn't keen on this as much. Perhaps it's the rap song is such a stark contrast to the other song... but that's probably why people like Young Punx.

Currently, I think you can only get Simple Pleasures/Like Dat on iTunes. If you want to wait, I think these two songs are going to be available on their upcoming album, Mashpop & Punkstep, due out in 2010.

Anyway, since this is the "free" post, you can head over to their official website under theyoungpunx.com/../mp3, you'll find a ton of free mixes and oddities. My favorite are any remix of "Juice and Gin".

Netflix on PS3

NETFLIX+PS3
Also, some random thoughts: I survived Black Friday. I have never seen so many people out in force at 5am. The parking lot at Wal-Mart was completely full, thankfully we got news alert from other shoppers that we went to Wal-Mart at the last stop. Deals were everywhere, it was the worst at Target (which also reflected people flocking to there). One of the item I bought was the Matrix 10^th Anniversary Bluray, which comes in a nice book-format, for $12.99. It's normally $29.99 suggested retail price. My impulse buy was S.T.A.L.K.E.R. PC game for $5.... it couldn't be helped.

I spent most of my vacation catching up on reading and TV shows. TV shows comes in the form of Hulu and Netflix - via the Netflix Instant Streaming disc for PS3. Compared to Xbox's "Gold Membership" which costs $50 a year, PS3's free streaming is a much better deal.

The Netflix streaming is dependent on your internet connection, I have a semi-decent connection at 5 megabit, so the video starts instantly (less than 30 seconds). Compare this to Playstation's own HD digital rental services, you have to wait at least 30 minutes to start the video, while it download the rest of the file. It's probably fast if you just drove to the video store and rent your movie.

Quality-wise, again depending on the connection, was pretty amazing for me. According to 1up.com, the streaming is in HD (however, I think some titles are only available in standard definition).

My gripe is that most of Netflix's titles are only available on DVD, the digital portion is probably less than 1% of their titles (it is only a guess since their selection is so poor). Also, there's no searching via the streaming disc. You can browse the recently added in various genres, but older titles, you will have to search and add to your "instant queue". Kind of lame, I hope they fix this problem in future updates.

If you don't have a PS3, most newer television and bluray player will come with instant Netflix, so this company is quite smart in getting their hands on all devices. Think about it, if you bought a Bluray player with Netflix, you will probably sign up for an account. Anyway, if you have a PS3 and a Netflix account already, you can request the free Bluray disc for yourself at netflix.com/ps3.

 12/01/2009 00:16:50 ♥ vu () ♥weheartmusic.com♥twitter.com/weheartmusic♥news.weheartmusic.com