Max Kroven's Reviews

[TV] The Big Bang Theory S07E20

2014-04-11T20:34:00.000-04:00

The Big Bang Theory is known for its character changes right near or exactly at the end of the seasons (like Raj being able to talk to women without being drunk at the end of Season 6), this time it's Sheldon's turn again, by giving up his pursue of verifying string theory and looking for a new field study, which leads to some hilarious moments during the episode.

Raj is no longer dating two women at once (not that he ever really did), so Howard proposes a double date with Bernadette and Emily, so they can get to know her before Raj eventually scared her off.. which turns out not to be a great idea, since Emily and Howard had met before, in very unfortunate circumstances.

WHAT TO LOVE
Seeing Sheldon drunk will never cease to be funny apparently, and this episode contains one of the best black-out moments he's had so far, specially when the audience is lead to believe something may have happened between him and Amy, only to find out the hilarious truth. Also, knowing what Howard did on Emily's bathroom years ago, which earned him the nickname of "Clogzilla", was definitely one of his funniest moments during this entire season.

WHAT TO HATE
Barry Kripke will always, apparently, be that one character that's put in an episode just to be annoying and a jackass to almost everyone around him, and this episode was not the exception. I believe he could definitely have more depth, as shown in previous episodes, but the fact that they're trying to pin him to the jerk stereotype is getting a little tiring.

WHAT TO IGNORE
Penny and Leonard didn't much add much to the plot other than just being there because they're part of the cast, and Penny's involvement in helping Sheldon decide to abandon string theory, could have perfectly been done by Amy. Not saying they shouldn't include characters if they're not gonna contribute to the episode, but the writers definitely could have done a better job on this.

THE VERDICT
It was a funny episode, no argument there, but not a highlight of the season. Plus, seeing Leonard and Penny losing relevance in the series bit by bit, is a bit disquieting. Maybe Penny getting pregnant could shake things up a bit? Who knows, but needless to say, I'll be for sure sticking around to find out ;)

[TV] Two and Half Men S11E19

2014-04-10T20:13:00.000-04:00

Walden has some love troubles yet once again as the end of Season 11 of Two and Half Men looms near, while Alan´s fake "Jeff Strongman" is finally exposed, without that many consequences actually, which made this episode fairly bland in comparison to previous efforts in this series.

We also get some surprises this time around, as Mila kunis (who was Kutcher's girlfriend in the series "That '70s show") makes a guest appearance being the one responsible for Walden to wreck his relationship with Gretchen, for the second time around, so he's back to a completely single status, which apparently will be the tone for the rest of the season.

WHAT TO LOVE
Seeing Kunis and Kutcher together again on screen was definitely a treat for any fans of "That '70s show", they definitely have some chemistry together (NOTE: just found out they're a couple in real life now as well), and the jabs and references they did about their previous TV shows, movies and even romantic partners, was definitely funny.

WHAT TO HATE
Do they really have to keep bashing Charlie Sheen for being kicked out of the show, and do they have to keep spilling his ashes for like the Nth time? It was funny the first two times, but if they're gonna reference Charlie Harper as a character, I'd like to see them do it in some type of positive light for once.

WHAT TO IGNORE
It was good to have Alan forcefully getting rid of his alter-ego, Jeff Strongman, but to have Gretchen still wanting to be with him after all that cocktail of lies, felt a little out of place. And speaking of weird, trying to add some shock value to the show by attempting some same-sex kissing between Kate and Vivian, on one hand, and Alan and Barry on the other, felt totally needless. They really couldn't find any other way to be amusing? It really felt like just thrown there for the sake of controversy and nothing else.

THE VERDICT
Not the best episode of the series, but also not the worst. Guess that bringing Mila Kunis to the show was the only cherry on the cake the series writers were willing to deliver, and deliver they did, but still seemed like a very poor attempt to inject some life in a series that little by little is getting stagnated, in my humble opinion. There are still another three episodes before the season ends, so we'll see if they can get their stuff together and go out with a bang, I'll for one be looking forward to it.

[TV] The Walking Dead S04E16

2014-03-31T13:55:00.000-04:00

"They're screwing with the wrong people". Those last words uttered by Mr. Grimes are the best way to sum up the entire season 4, and to set the mood for what's going to be season 5 of The Walking Dead, one of the best horror TV shows ever, and which is probably the second darkest episode after "The Grove", which was so dense I didn't think they could top it.. but they certainly did!

We see almost everyone reaching the mysterious Terminus, but who didn't see that plot twist happening? "Sanctuary for all"?? Yeah right.. at least Rick's group was a lot smarter than Maggie and Glenn's did, but the end result had them all locked up in the same place. But Rick's final delivery is what tells us the best is yet to come, and I for one am absolutely looking forward to it.

WHAT TO LOVE
Are you into dark adrenaline-filled moments? Then I'm sure you loved this episode as much as me.. I mean, we knew Rick had become a darker and somber character after everything that has happened to him, but to be faced with the chance of his son being raped and killed in front of him, just took him to a whole new level. He became a "walker" for a couple of minutes, and as gruesome as that was, it was so thrilling, I just couldn't take my eyes off the screen (or even breathe) during that entire sequence. Plus, finally knowing what's up with Terminus and having most of the old gang reunited again, made this one of the best episodes of this kickass season.

WHAT TO HATE
The whole shootout at Terminus felt just bland and lacking when compared to what we've seen elsewhere in the series. Sure, it was established the Terminus people didn't want to kill them, because apparently they want to eat them?? I don't know, it just felt too frustrating to see our heroes overpowered so easily, but of course, if it hadn't happened like that, probably we wouldn't have had that reunion at the end. And who wouldn't hate the Claimer Gang? Seeing them gone just had to happen… we all know that.

WHAT TO IGNORE
The fact that the Terminus people were so careless as to wear and publicly display items that belonged to the rest of Rick's group, not foreseeing at all a situation like the one that ultimately happened, was maybe the low point of the episode, and a clear plot element thrown there just so the story could move along towards have everyone reunited. Not saying it was such a bad thing, but you definitely have to ignore this if you want to see this season finale as the almost master piece that it ended up being.

THE VERDICT
Amazing episode and amazing end to a shocking season 4. Everything finally came into place, most of the main characters grew up an changed into more rounded version of themselves, and the set up for season 5 (seeing how they're gonna escape Terminus) is just so magnificent, I can't help but giving it a pretty darn high rating. Looking forward to more Walking Dead action starting again hopefully before the end of the year.. I'm sure it's gonna rock HARD!

[Movie] Divergent (Hunger Games?)

2014-03-22T01:34:00.000-04:00

Thinking this was a rip-off of The Hunger Games (or at least trying to bask in its success), I approached Divergent very carefully, trying not to pre-judge it too much… and in the end, it proved worth it: while not being a good movie really, it still was entertaining enough to keep my interest all the way 'till the end… and that's a lot to say, considering the state of movie-making nowadays…

Set in a dystopian future, Divergent tells the story of five different factions of people who try to run society in a peaceful way by keeping everyone segmented (wait, I thought this wasn't copying THG?). The main star of the movie falls into more than one category, which makes her a "Divergent", someone who can't be controlled or manipulated, and thus, is a danger to society and must be eliminated. A lot of conflicts and battles ensue, people die, and the two main heroes emerge triumphant (really, this is NOT THG).

WHAT TO LOVE
When Tris (the main character) first solves hear fear-tests using her "Divergent powers", but then does the same as someone from Dauntless would, the plot gets very entertaining, specially when you think she's out of the illusion, only to then realize she was still being tested in it. Also, the fact that she didn't turn out to be a slut (as it happens in too many of these movies) by passing up sex with Four, was definitely refreshing and, I feel, a change in the right direction for this genre of films.

WHAT TO HATE
The fact that the main character was made to be too similar in personality (and even looks) to the main star of The Hunger Games, was too blatant to put up with. It was like they were not even trying to hide the fact that they were making a movie which capitalizes in the success of another, to the point that probably the book this movie was based on wouldn't even have been picked up if it wasn't because of how well THG did in the box office. It was even irritating at times.

WHAT TO IGNORE
Having not read the book, I felt some characters were totally irrelevant to the plot (like Christina and Al), and some of them even useless (like Caleb, Tris' brother). Maybe they had some importance in the book, but here in the movie, they really looked just like pretty faces thrown in there just to make this film easier to market. Also, the "true romance during dystopian civil unrest" bit has been done already.. couldn't they have picked a more original concept instead?

THE VERDICT
I don't wanna say this movie was bad, since I did enjoy it a bit and it kept my interest during its entire run. Had The Hunger Games not existed, I probably would have been more positive about it, but the word "opportunistic" cannot escape my head when I think about this title. Let's hope they may be a little more creative when they release the sequel next year (not holding my breath, though).

[TV] Family Guy S12E06 (Brian's death)

2013-11-24T19:27:00.000-05:00

I'm not even going to say "Spoiler Alert" here, as the episode already aired, and probably everyone by now knows the huge plot twist in the latest episode of Family Guy: the death of one of its main characters, Brian Griffin. So with that out of the way, let's explore the episode and why the writers and producers may have really reached this decision.

The episode starts with Brian and Stewie fleeing from some native american indians after another of their time-travels gone wrong, and we already see Brian barely making it alive after avoiding a bunch of gunshots, spears and arrows. Then they make it back to their "real" timeline (more on that later), only to have Brian be run over by a car and dying at the veterinary clinic a little bit later. The family eventually gets a new dog, and life seems to be moving on for everyone.

Alright, here's my idea on why the decision to kill off Brian was made, and what possibly holds in the future for him (seeing as he IS scheduled to appear in future episodes). For starters, I hadn't seen any of the episodes this season, I didn't even know that a new Family Guy season had started, to be honest, and I feel I probably wasn't alone in that. My interest in this series had waned long ago, and if it wasn't for Brian's death, I probably wouldn't have watched any Family Guy this year… and I feel this was one of the main reasons he got killed off: in order to renew public´s interest altogether… and it's a fact already that they managed to pull this off.

Plus, a new dog with a vastly different personality definitely will be able to renew the air in a series that has already spent almost 12 seasons doing the same cutaway gags thing over and over, so I for one welcome that.

Now, since Brian is scheduled to appear in future episodes, here's some ideas on how they may bring him back: first off, this was one of those time-travel episodes, where they go to the past and change things, then they go back again to alternate dimensions and what not. It's possible then that Brian is still alive in another dimension, and that's who we get to see… OR, we discover that the timeline they came back to this time, was not the correct one, so I feel it's safe to say that Brian is not dead for long.

We'll have to wait and see what they do next… the producers made a very bold move with this, but we already see that it's completely working for them.

[TV] The Big Bang Theory S07E09

2013-11-22T11:04:00.000-05:00

It's that time again where most American sitcoms do one of those themed episodes and The Big Bang Theory is no exception, of course, as the whole gang heads to Mrs. Wolowitz's house to spend the holiday, to the resignation of most, and the total devastation of one (Sheldon, who compares being taken there with how slaves were forced to be taken from Africa to America).

We also find out that Penny was actually married to her ex-boyfriend, Zack, when both of them spent a Thanksgiving in Las Vegas and, unknowingly, tied the knot in what they believed was a "fake wedding". Leonard is of course not happy about it, and most of the episode is spent trying to annul the marriage, which involves inviting Zack over to dinner, which also ensues some funny moments in the episode.

Other enjoyable times involved Bernadette's father bonding with Sheldon, out of all people, with football stories and beer, which also lead to maybe some interesting developments in the show. Of course, this is not the first time Sheldon has gotten drunk (I think the first time was for Howard's bachelor party), but having him accept alcohol so willingly was definitely something new… plus, him buttslapping Amy at the end of the episode and asking her for more beer, made him look human in a way we may have never seen him before… I think i read somewhere that the writers were trying to make Sheldon less of a robot and more of a human being little by little, and this may be one of the beginnings of that process. I for one, really enjoy the change, as there's really just so much you can pull out of a one-dimensional character, so a more rounded-up Sheldon Cooper will definitely be a nice addition to the series.

I still felt it was a bit forced to have everyone go to the house of Howard's mom, to then have her get sick and unable to participate with everyone else, as the episode could have perfectly have taken place at Leonard and Sheldon's place, or anywhere else, but I guess that's just a minor detail.

All in all, it was definitely a very funny episode, and seeing Sheldon transform into a character with more depth is definitely something good, so I'll be looking forward to see this transformation continue in the future.

[TV] Two and a Half Men S11E08

2013-11-21T15:57:00.000-05:00

In what's shaping up to be one of the less entertaining seasons of Two and Half Men ever, this episode delivers more of the same: issues with Alan and Lindsey´s illicit affair, Walden having awkward situations, and Jenny being a lesbian version of Charlie Harper, all elements that are starting to get very old, very soon.

Maybe the only redeeming point of the episode is seeing Rose back in the show, but of course, she still does what she always does: being a stalker and an all-around creeper. Plus, her appearance in the show is very shaky and shady: she was the private investigator that Linday's boyfriend, Larry, hired to spy on her, but how could have he contacted Rose in the first place? I mean, we can assume that Rose is very crafty and resourceful, but plot elements like this just make no sense and, to me at least, take a lot away from the comedy elements of the show.

Plus, the whole Larry-Lindsay-Alan love triangle is really starting to wear me out, even if this episode could, hopefully, signal that the whole situation is coming to an end soon, now that even Jenny was thrown in the middle there… but like I said before, her futile attempts to fill the sleazy drunk man-whore's position left vacant by Charlie Sheen's departure of the show, seem way too forced and uninteresting. They tried it with Walden before, and it didn't work, so now they're going for the next best thing… but it's still not working, in my humble opinion.

Maybe the only funny part of the episode was the motel's manager trying to seduce Walden, and eventually chasing him into the bushes. I highly doubt he could become a regular character in the series (I don't see how), but if he did, maybe the should would stink a little less of what is doing right now.

A very poor episode over all, wonder if they'll be able to pick it up towards the end of the season, I still have some hopes for a miracle like that.

[Movie] Gravity (adrenaline in space)

2013-10-05T17:53:00.000-04:00

This is one of the movies which trailer really made me look forward to it. I thought everything was going to be one of those psychological experiments like "Moon" or "2001: a Space Odyssey", but sadly, it turned out to be just another action flick, an interesting one, but nothing much out of the ordinary... and I really was expecting so much more from this!

Sure enough, the movie has some interesting elements, like the "one-shot real time" effect, which I'm sure must have taken a lot of work to get right, but it also has some details are only remarkable if you're watching its 3D version (like all the stuff jumping towards the screen). In the regular version, they just look very ordinary. That doesn't mean that special effects are not spectacular, because they are, it's just that it's too obvious that most of them were meant to be enjoyed only in 3D, and if you're not watching that version, then you're really missing out.

Plot-wise, I was truly expecting a lot more psychological issues from being stranded in space, but other than desperation and hallucinations, I got nothing. I was still hooked on the screen 'till the very end, but the movie definitely did not deliver what I was looking for. It seemed that tension and explosions were the only thing that really mattered in the end, and that didn't impress me much.

Maybe it's my own fault for expecting so much from this movie, but I didn't expect to be this much disappointed with it. Even the eye-candy of seeing Sandra Bullock barely dressed felt too forced in… like, was had already enjoyed watching her take off her space costume at the station, did she also have to show skin when she was back on Earth? I'm not complaining, just saying it looked too much like a cheap move on the producers' part.

I'm still giving this movie a high rating, because even though I didn't like it that much, it was still a kick-ass movie nonetheless, and I'll give it nits proper props. Next time, I just won't have that many expectations when approaching this type of work (probably wishful thinking for the most part xD).

[Movie] Kick-Ass 2 (superheroing!)

2013-08-17T15:21:00.000-04:00

After seeing the first installment in this series of movies a couple of years ago, and having really enjoyed it, I was looking forward to this second part, expecting more of the intense action and plot, and I have to say that I was mostly not disappointed, which doesn't mean that I didn't have some problems with it... because I did, big time.

Three of the main characters from the first part reprise their roles (luckily, no Nicolas Cage this time around xD), which are older now (specially Hit-Girl, who looks dazzling!), bringing with that a more mature aspect to the series. The raw violence from the previous film is back, and even more intense… at parts, maybe even more gratuitous, as sometimes the heavy beatings and killings seem to take too much importance in the overall plot, maybe to make up for a lack of depth in the story itself. I don't really have a beef with it, but too much senseless violence sometimes gets to me, and this flick seemed to have A LOT of it.

We also get a bunch of new characters (with Night-Bitch as one of the better looking ones), both heroes and villains… and the bad guys here are really extremely bad, no question about it. Plot-wise, the movie didn't have much to offer, and this element of having red Mist turn into a villain felt like an overall bad idea.. not sure if that goes on on the comics this is based on as well, but I felt was very weak as a story telling device.

There are talks about a third movie in the series, but I wouldn't see much point in it, unless it is to kill all the characters off and put an end to it all… and actually that may be what happens if this is green-lit. Don't know I'd be much looking forward to it, but since this part ended with sort of a cliffhanger, I'd at least be interested in checking it out.

I'd give this a better rating, because it still is not a bad movie, but the excess of violence ruined it for me, and I'm sure I'm not alone in this. Hope they make it better next time.

[Movie] Man of Steel (Supermanning!)

2013-06-15T18:31:00.000-04:00

I was waiting forever for this movie to be released, and I really didn't know why: I'm not a big fan of superhero movies, but for some reason i Knew i really wanted to see this. And it wasn't until the credits rolled that I figured out why: it was produced by Chris Nolan, one of my favorite directors ever since i watched "Memento", and while he is not directing this feature, you can still tell his hand is involved in this, and I think that somehow I knew that, that's why I was really looking forward to watch this.

You can tell Nolan´s darker input on visual effects right from the beginning, as everything looks gritty and the whole atmosphere is eerily somber. Acting is on the part of Russell Crowe (as Jor-El) and Michael Shannon (as General Zod) is top-notch, and definitely balances the somewhat less than stelar performances of Superman himself (Henry Cavill) and his love interest, Lois Lane (Amy Adams). I'm not saying their acting was bad, it just felt uninspired most of the time, but like I said before, the movie had such great actors (including Kevin Costner), that this one factor was not so relevant to the entirety of the film.

Story-wise, this reboot of the Superman franchise does a really nice job of creating a new universe for this (and what I heard, other superhero characters) to live in, even though I felt the pacing was a bit clunky at parts (like Superman just happening to stumble on the Kryptonian spaceship for apparently no reason at all, and General Zod requesting Lois Lane to be taken on board their ship, also with no further explanation), but not enough to damage what is otherwise a very good and entertaining movie.

Apparently, a sequel is in the works, entitled "Superman Vs. Batman", which by its name alone should explain what the film is going to be about, so be on the lookout for that sometime in 2014, I definitely will!

[Movie] The Purge (sucks hard!)

2013-06-08T10:59:00.000-04:00

Words fail me to describe how BAD this movie is, so much that I didn't even think I'd write a review for it... it's the first time I'm giving a ZERO rating to anything, and if I could give it a minus number, I would: that's how terrible this film is.

Where to start? The premise? Laughable! So, one day a year where all crime is allowed, except killing important politicians, solves all of society's problems?? Really? Yeah, if you could kill a senator or a President who is not doing a good job, yeah, maybe.. but that's not even allowed during the Purge, so what gives? Just the main concept of the movie makes everything else go downhill from there.

The acting? Worst I've seen in decades! What ever happened to Ethan Hawke? I don't remember him being such a bad actor in previous films… maybe he had to lower his acting level to match everyone else's in this crapfest?? Whoever played the wife was just sooo bad at acting, and so were the children… oh, wait, right: having the 18-year-old girl be wearing her "sexy" catholic schoolgirl outfit the entire movie, in order to lure the perverts in? Cheesy move. And the boyfriend, who had no relevance in the movie whatsoever, and who probably was there just to target teenage girls? The casting for this was just so horribly bad, I mean, how was this movie a box office "success" is just beyond me…

The plot elements? So they made the little kid be a pacifist and so he harbors a fugitive from the purge, which starts the whole mess.. then they torture the poor guy7 in order to get him to cooperate to get him out of the house, then they ALL turn into moralmongers and go "oh no, we're better than, let's kill a lot of people instead of just one". Ah yeah, the Purgers! So they wear masks, even though there's no need, as all crime is legal for 12 hours, but still they felt the need to hide their faces, except for their polite leader, who's too cool for masks.. and then the neighbors trying to kill family just because they made a lot of money selling them their security systems, and then the black guy (yeah, they had to make the main victimized guy be black) saves the day, dad dies, the end.

I really had to put up with this just to write this review, I was ready to call it quits barely 20 minutes into the movie, and that still was too long a time for me. I'm not gonna say this is the worst movie I've ever watched, but it definitely ranks up there at the top. And they're gonna make a sequel? This world is definitely going to the pits…

[Movie] The Hangover Part III (boored!)

2013-05-24T08:17:00.000-04:00

What was this even supposed to be? I mean, I know it's the third and last installment of The Hangover series, but it felt more like "Leslie Chow: The Movie", as the entire film seemed made just to make us of his character, and to still profit from the success of the original title… but I saw almost no comedy here, and I think that may even have been on purpose.

Plot-wise, the producers seem to have taken too seriously the idea of "not ripping off the same movie for a third time", as they went totally south with the direction of the film: Leslie Chow escapes from prison, the "wolfpack" gets involved in a gold robbery, Doug is kidnapped, people die, Alan gets married, and at the end, another event where they remember nothing of the previous night. It's as boring as this summary is.

WHAT TO LOVE
Almost nothing good to say about this movie, other than "Oh, it's that funny Leslie Chow guy!", and maybe the inclusion of John Goodman… and probably that's just for the true fans of old comedy… which this film is clearly not. And probably we can love this series finally ended and there won't be a Part IV, luckily.

WHAT TO HATE
Pretty much everything to hate, again, like with Part II, but this time for different reasons? I don't know, it seems they tried to make this movie so different from the previous two, they went the other way around and ended up blowing the whole thing up. It was nice to see some connections to the first movie (with the return of "Black Doug"), but that was just about all that was nice about the entire thing.

WHAT TO IGNORE
The entire plot, I guess. Really, this movie pretty much had no reason to exist other than milking a dead cow and use the name of the series to make some bucks before the novelty entirely wore off… which I feel was the biggest mistake they made, and this had worn off already at the end of the first movie. But, they still made some money with this, so joke's on us, apparently.

THE VERDICT
A bad unfunny movie. They shouldn't have made Part II, even less this one. Just a dull, tepid and uninspired film, which served only to put an end to the "trilogy", if for anything else. Don't waste your time with it.

[Documentary] SIRIUS

2013-04-26T10:37:00.000-04:00

A documentary called "Sirius", that has NOTHING to do with Sirius, the star, at all. That was my first turn off about this new documentary which, pretty much, encompasses and highlights the whole body work of Mr. Steven Greer, who for years has been studying and promoting the UFO phenomenon throughout the world. And for those of us who are already very familiar with his work, there was nothing new here to watch.
And apart from being ticked off that this film had nothing to with studying the star Sirius as a possible source for human life, the whole documentary just looked as an enormous and lengthy tribute to Mr. Greer's work. This could have been called "Steven Greer: the Movie", and it wouldn't have made much difference in the end, since most of the documentary was just about his life and his beliefs… and this is another of the points i had a problem with.

As far as i understand, a documentary is supposed to present a neutral point of view about a topic, so the viewer can make their own conclusions and opinions about what's going on. But the whole time in this movie they presented New Age and meditation as valid and legit elements in human society, and they even went as far as to state they know what happens after death, as evidenced when they described the death of Greer's best friend as "she passed onto the world of light" instead of the neutral and objective "she passed away". Who are they to affirm there IS a "world of light" beside this one, and why would this friend go there and not somewhere else? I think stuff like this really ended up hurting everything that this film was trying to aim at, which was showing that the UFO phenomenon and extraterrestrial life was an actual situation in the world.
In that aspect, the whole buzz about this tiny humanoid creature was also, i felt, a huge disappointment, because the end result of the entire investigation about the creature was "inconclusive". It cannot be told if it's a deformed human, or if it's an alien creature. All in all, no one knows what it is.

In the end, i felt the only redeeming points of this documentary were the "Zeitgeist" moments, like talking about suppressed forms of free energy (even though they never managed to get that magnetic energy machine to work) and about all the money syphoned out of the American people that goes towards black operations by the US government.. and only that, because everything mentioned on UFOS and aliens was already pretty well covered in Greer's previous work, the "Disclosure Project" DVD, a much better rounded effort on his part. Compared to that, this documentary fell really short, and one has to wonder if a much better job could have indeed been done.
If you watched this film, what did you think of it? Please leave me a comment in the section below, thanks.

[TV] Catfish S01E06

2012-12-17T04:09:00.000-05:00

I have to admit this was my first time watching this show, and i mostly did it because of the many mentions on Twitter about how Kya and Alyx, the two main subjects of this episode, had met in a website called VampireFreaks, of which I have been a member for several years, and i wanted to see how this fact was going to be portrayed on the show.

I was glad to see that, besides the snickers and scoffs when the words "vampire freaks" were uttered, they didn't fixate on that, and rather focused on the online relationship these two people had developed. It starts as your typical "two people who have fake online profiles start dating" type of thing, and I was already expecting to see some serious scripting and fake acting, but was surprised to notice that, as far as i could tell, everyone's reaction to the whole situation felt very genuine, specially when they find out that Alyx was not only who he said he was on pictures: he wasn't even a guy, at least not legally yet.

The disappointment in Kya's face when she learned this truth seemed very real, and the whole process of her getting over the fact that the boyfriend she had been in an online relationship with for the past 8 months was actually a transgendered girl, and learning to still love her in spite of that, i found it to be very remarkable.

This whole episode was a huge slap in the face for many of its viewers, I'm guessing, because not only they showed two people who don't conform to the beauty standards of typical reality TV stars (who are pretty much all fit and beautiful), they also showed that it IS possible that two people can truly love each other regardless of their gender or physical appearance, and to me, if nothing else, that was the main accolade this show got going on in their favor, at least this time around.

If you watched this show, how did you feel about it? Please leave me a comment in the section below. Thanks.

[Youtube] Angus T. Jones bashing

2012-11-27T17:59:00.002-05:00

I guess i was as surprised as everyone else when i started seeing the Twitter feeds about Angus Jones saying that the show he's in, Two and a Half Men, is "filth", and urging viewers to stop watching the show. As a fan of the series since the first episode of the first season, i felt like giving my two cents about the whole situation.

First off, i fully and completely respect that he's a born again Christian… he has right to his own religion, and that's all good, but when he starts telling the fans of his own show, in which he's been for over 10 years, not to watch it anymore, that his character is nothing, non-existent, and starts talking about "the enemy", then i feel there's something seriously wrong going on with him. Like i said, i have nothing against religion nor Christianity, but when i feel something's odd, i just feel like commenting on it, that's all.

I watched the entire 14 minute video that Forerunner posted, where he makes his main statements about the show and about his new faith, and the words "brain washed" just pops in my head almost at every second. Pretty much he's telling us that we're all wrong (and possibly sinners) for watching the show now, and that if we keep watching, we're just following Satan's plan of some sort… i mean, what? And at no point he's saying that he's going to quit the show, or that he's trying to get fired, and no mention about donating all the money he makes per episode or anything else. I mean, if the show is "filth", then the money he makes with it should be filthy too, shouldn't it? In that case, is he going to get rid of it? I didn't see any mentions of that anywhere.

I don't intend to be judgmental or too critical on his new stance about a show that saw him grow up from a little kid into the man he is nowadays. I just feel that something is odd here, and i'd love to hear your thoughts about it in the comment section below. Thanks.

[TV] Two and a Half Men S10E08

2012-11-25T13:25:00.002-05:00

In spite of the many people who stopped watching this show after Charlie Sheen left, Two and a Half Men has continued thriving through its tenth season and it doesn't seem to be letting down anytime soon, and as a fan of the series, i am very happy for that.

This time around we see the plot progressing into what may be Alan's third wedding, with his girlfriend Lindsey pressuring him to tie the knot. We also see a turn of events for Walden when this time it's a rich lady who's taking him out and buying him stuff as opposed to what his normal routine would be. It was specially funny when the producers of the show made fun of themselves, by ridiculing both the old and new premises and story lines of the series during an after-sex exchange of words between Walden and his sugar momma. Being able to laugh at oneself is always important, so i give props to these people for being brave enough to do so.

The main novelty of this episode is the introduction of the new character, Sid Olsen, a grumpy and witty old man portrayed by none other than Jon Cryer himself, making this his second role after years playing Alan Harper exclusively. I'm not entirely sure how much of a good move this is or not, as at first i thought the series was gonna take a HUGE turn by adding science fiction to its plot (by making Sid Olsen really be Alan from the future), but when i realized he's just a new character and nothing else, i was a bit disappointed. I have to admit though, the way they showed both characters on screen at the same time was really, really well done, and i'm glad that technology has advanced so much as to being able to do this the right away.

I still remember series from the past when an actor would play twins in a show (think Phoebe and Ursula in "Friends"), and the execution was very poorly done, where you could tell the camera cuts, image quality of both versions of the characters was significantly different, etc. Compared to that, Alan and Sid played next to each other flawlessly, so great congratulations to the visual effects team are in order. If Mr.Olsen will play an important role in the rest of the series or if he's just gonna be forgotten like Magilla (Walden´s gorilla brother), only time will tell.

What did you think of this episode? Did you also think at first that Sid Olsen was a time traveller Alan Harper? Please let me know in the comment section below. Thanks.

[TV] The Big Bang Theory S06E08

2012-11-15T09:25:00.000-05:00

In what is probably the funniest episode so far this year, "The 43 Peculiarity" brought some surprises as well as some little disappointments along and set the tone for a really good rest of the season for this constantly funny and well produced series.

Talks of a parallel universe and Sheldon holding a secret were the two main elements at the beginning of the episode that i'm sure had most of us really intrigued, specially when the secondary story of Leonard being jealous of Penny's new classmate was not that surprising at all, as Leonard being doubtful about his ability to keep Penny's interest in him has been a constant throughout the whole run of the series.. but the climax that this situation lead to was definitely the cherry on the cake.

We also see that Alex (Sheldon's assistant) is converting her crush on Leonard into something a lot bigger, probably even infatuation, and it was truly funny to see him so clueless about her innuendos towards him (which were all sweet and super cute, by the way)… but of course Penny's accidental slip about her true feelings for Leonard was something that probably most fans have been awaiting for years, and it's gonna be really interesting how this revelation plays out in the upcoming episodes.

But the biggest surprise that, to me at least, turned into the biggest disappointment, was Sheldon opening a portal to a parallel dimension… my breath stopped for a second as i thought this series was gonna take a HUGE leap into new territory (by bringing science fiction into the show), but then was quickly corrected when realizing the whole thing was a prank on Sheldon's part. It would have been SO interesting to have such a new element to be developed in the series, but alas, it was not meant to be. In spite of that, i still loved this episode and i'm really looking forward to the next, to be aired on November 29th.

So, what did you think of this episode? Do you think that eventually adding science fiction to the plot would harm or improve the series? Please leave me a comment in the section below.

[Movie] Grave Encounters 2

2012-10-13T15:10:00.000-04:00

Really? They made a sequel of this… oh well, it couldn't be as bad as the first one, could it? Oh, wait… And so, since they made a couple of millions with the prequel, the producers decided to give it another go, and they didn't find any better way than making fun of all the online reviewers who panned their previous effort. Asshole move, of course, but since it sorta set the track for what the movie was going to be about, I think that not much can be said about it. A group of kids who saw the first film and believed it was real, decide to go to the same hospital and find out by themselves what really happened there. Of course, they had to put the token "hot girl" in there (Tessa) to lure in the male audience, and the pretty boys (Alex and Trevor) to target the teeny fangirls… all too predictable.

Anyway, I think that since this time around they went more for an actual film vibe, rather than a mockumentary one, they decided to be more outlandish with the plot development, starting with that Ouija board that moved by itself and told them that pretty much the hospital itself wanted them to "film everything". From then on, crap hits the fan and it's just one ridiculous moment followed by another (like the "fake escape", where they exit the building, go to their hotel, and then find themselves inside the hospital again).

The guys who are surviving the mayhem by this point in the movie, find the original guy from the first movie (Lance Preston), who is now all insane with long hair and really ripped (apparently feeding on rats is good for your overall fitness, go figure). Then, the final plot twist is revealed, with a red door that leads to nowhere being the key to everything: you just have to kill everyone else and promise to finish the film in order to be granted exit of the building, easy enough, huh? So a dimensional vortex opens, sucks Lance in, the one young guy kills his possible girlfriend, and leaves the place, the end.

Oh, wait, no.. then we see the same cheesy producer from the first film, saying that everything was fake and that the guy who survived was a really talented filmmaker and what not. At that point I couldn't care less, not even for the after-credits scene, which doesn't tell us anything we didn't know already.

Let's trust that they won't make a third part of this series, because two of this is all I can take nowadays. Not as bad as the first one, but really terrible regardless.

[Movie] Looper

2012-09-29T22:41:00.000-04:00

A science fiction thriller about time travel used in a criminal way: in the future, disappearing people is not that simple, so the mafia sends all those they want killed into the past, where hired assassins called "Loopers" blast them dead as soon as they arrive, and collect their payment, which is silver bars attached to the body of the victim. When the looper's contract is over, they send their future selves into the past, to be killed by their younger selves, so the "loop is closed" and they can retire to live the rest of their lives enjoying their earnings.

When the main character's "old self" shows up from the future, he manages to get free (complicating everything for his younger self) and is on a mission to kill a powerful crime lord from the future while he's still a young kid in the present time of the movie plot. A lot of action ensues when the younger self tries to stop his old one, leading up to a final confrontation and a possible redefinition of the future.

WHAT TO LOVE
If you're into sci-fi and time travel, definitely those are the elements you're going to love the most in this flick. Plus, the main roster of popular actors Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt ensures a good and talented acting. And speaking of such, Pierce Gagnon really impresses with his performance: finding good child actors is always really hard, but finding someone as good as him, is definitely phenomenal! You can just see him as a powerful criminal in the future, even if he's just a kid now. His work is absolutely one of the highlights of this film, along with the appealing storyline and well-paced plot. Also, you have to love that they used an actual older person to play the main´s character older self, instead the old truck of applying heavy makeup on a young person to make them look old, which always, no matter what, looks bad.

WHAT TO HATE
Ironically, the fact they used two different people to be the two versions of a character also brought something I disliked a lot: the make up and prosthetics they used on Gordon-Levitt to make him look like Bruce Willis was just awful. They don't really look alike not even with those things on, plus, Gordon-Levitt looks so weird, and it's not until you realize Willis plays his future self that you kind of make sense of why he looked so weird and different to the way he normally looks.

WHAT TO IGNORE
The character of Kid Blue really felt forced to be just a glue element to tie a lot of parts of the movie that would be disconnected otherwise. he has no major transcendence other than that. He's just a plot element and had pretty much no value as a character.. they even build him up to show he's dumb and stupid, so, why would he have been hired as a Looper in the first place? The character of the stripper/sex worker Suzie also was totally irrelevant to the overall plot. You have to ignore these facts to truly enjoy this movie, because otherwise it falls apart, if only just a little bit.

THE VERDICT
This is a good movie that, while it doesn't really shine among its peers, still manages to get the job of entertaining the audience done, and also presents a somewhat realistic portrayal of the future, one that is not so far fetched as other movies have shown us. An absolutely recommendation for all lover os science fiction.

[Movie] The Dark Knight Rises

2012-07-21T14:31:00.000-04:00

I have to admit that i've never been much of a Batman fan, but i decided to watch this film because Christopher Nolan is my favorite director ever since the movie "Memento", and seeing as his brother has helped him write the screenplay for the last installment in this Dark Knight trilogy (like he did with Memento as well), and hearing comments like "this movie will change your life", it made not watching this almost impossible… and while i am not disappointed with the film, i definitely did not see what all the hype was about.
Plot-wise, "The Dark Knight Rises" falls in line with the two other movies in this trilogy: very dark and sinister situations which lead to a darker conclusion, even though that, given this was the final film in the series, the ending was a bit more upbeat and hopeful than what its predecessors got. We see a reluctant and beaten down Bruce Wayne coping with the idea of donning the bat cowl again after deciding on voluntary retirement years ago, and also get an insinuation that this movie could be a prequel for a new Batman series, or maybe even a Nightwing spin-off, something that time will have to tell if it's just wild assumptions of concrete reality.

The whole bit about taking down rich and powerful people from their homes and stripping them of their fortunes and, basically, sentencing them to death, fell too connected to the whole "Occupy" movement, in spite of director Nolan saying that it was never his intention, stating that none of his movies are intended to be political. While i am inclined to believe him in that statement, it's very hard not to see some type of social criticism in this aspect of the movie, as thinking "rich people don't deserve their fortunes" is a pretty common idea worldwide, and even having Bryce Wayne become completely broke in this movie has too much of a tint of political commentary, but of course, that's just my humble opinion. I felt a little annoyed by the incidental background music at times, but i think this is one of Nolan´s trademarks by now, as i felt the same way when i watched "Inception".. it's like there were times where we didn't really need the suspense music in the background at all.. but there it was anyway.

Not a major setback, but somewhat of a pet peeve of mine, nothing much to it. All in all, this was a decent end of the Dark Knight trilogy, but which may have been too hyped for its own good. Now, let's see what Christopher Nolan is going to come up with next, i will definitely be looking forward to it.

[Movie] The Amazing Spider Man

2012-07-04T14:12:00.000-04:00

Spiderman used to be my favorite superhero when i was growing up, so i have watched every movie made about him, even the live action series from the ´80s, and while the previous trilogy of films in the series (directed by Sam Raimi and starring Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst) was not bad by any means, "The Amazing Spider-Man" was definitely the best film of all times about this superhero, and there are many reasons for it.
For starters, this is the movie that closest resembles the original storyline of the character, particularly by making Gwen Stacy be Peter Parker´s first romance interest as opposed to Mary Jane Watson (which was the case in the Raimi movies). Also, the origin of his super powers are a tad bit less ludicrous than in previous films, and best of all, Parker is again a geeky science genius who builds his own web shooters instead of having them spun out from his body like Maguire's version did.

Apart from all that, Andrew Garfield is a way more convincing Peter Parker than Tobey Maguire ever was, and the overall tone of the film was more realistic and somber at the same time… almost like Christopher Nolan's version of Batman, which make the superhero appear more human and less of a totally fictional character. And needless to say, visual effects were the best ever for this series, making Spiderman look a lot more real when jumping from buildings and swinging to webs, which wasn't the case in the original trilogy, when the computer animations were a lot more obvious.

The movie is not entirely flawless, of course. The Lizard, being the only villain of the film, felt quite weak for being Spiderman's main menace (if you don't consider the NYPD as an actual threat), his goal of turning the entire city into lizards was just odd, and having him saving the superhero at the end of the movie was even more out of place. Also, the part where this construction worker, whose son's life just happened to be saved by the "web-slinger", decides to help our hero by setting all of New York's cranes to align so Spiderman could swing from them, felt way too forced into the plot and completely unnatural.

Other than that, and considering that those points are merely personal observations of something that didn't really hurt the plot, this was an outstanding superhero film and a really nice reboot of the Spiderman series, so i'll be looking forward to the sequel in 2014, a long time to wait, but i am already sure is going to be completely worth it.

[TV] Awake S01E01: Pilot

2012-02-27T11:30:00.003-05:00

It's been a long time since i've been this excited about a TV series… i think the last ones that made me feel intrigued and got me this hooked were Dexter and The Event, so i'm happy to have a new series to really look forward to every week, even though we still have to wait a few days for "Awake" to officially start its run.
The main premise of the show is alternate realities, a topic i am really, really interested on, and the way they are working with it on the pilot is just superb. We get to meet the main character of the series, police detective Michael Britten, played by no other than Jason Isaacs, who's probably most famous for playing the villain Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter films. This time around, Isaacs' character goes through a tragic and, at the time, mysterious car accident with his wife and son. When he regains consciousness, he is split between two different realities: in one, his wife died and his son survived, and in the other, his son died and his wife survived. Which one is an actual reality and which one is a dream is what, undoubtedly, will play the main driving force of the entire series.

I particularly liked that the producers are already using the resource of crossing over realities, so clues that Britten gets in one reality as a detective, he can use it in the other in order to solve cases… that opens up several opportunities for interesting plot twists to be developed along the run of the series, and i'm sure it will probably be vital when solving the main mystery of why the original car accident happened and why was the main character split into two dimensions, so i for one am really looking forward to that.

One thing i couldn't help being reminded of was the different color tints used in movies like "Memento", where each reality is characterized by a different color (in this case, green for the "son reality" and red for the "wife reality"), and of course, the jumping from one dream to another is very reminiscent of the recent "Inception" movie, and being a fan of both those films, it goes without saying that i loved the inclusion of these ideas on "Awake", and am intrigued to see how they'll continue developing them. This series is scheduled to debut on March 1st at 10 PM EST, so make sure to check it out!

Starting with this review, i wanna use the main topic at hand of the episode i'm reviewing in order to present debate topics, and the one for this first showing of "Awake" is: What do you think about parallel realities? Do you believe that dreams are part of different dimensions we go to when we're asleep? Do you think that one day we may wake up in an entire different world, but we're still dreaming and we don't realize it? Please leave your comments below, i would really appreciate them.

[TV] Two and a Half Men S09E12

2011-12-13T16:45:00.008-05:00

The main thing i liked about this episode is that it was, to me at least, the first one in feeling different and maybe indicating the direction this series is going to take when compared to what Two and Half Men has been for the last 8 seasons. We see Walden trying to develop a serious relationship with his current crush, Zoey, and also get to meet both her parents (very colorful characters), Walden's mother and, probably the main surprise of the show, Walden's "brother", Magilla, a 400-pound gorilla that lives in an animal sanctuary, and this last bit is the one i think deserves more time talking about it.
While the pictures of Walden as a kid next to the baby gorilla were somewhat ridiculous and totally unrealistic, the gorilla outfit (and probably robotic face) they used for the grown-up Magilla, was actually pretty good, in my opinion, not to the point of saying "oh, that's a real gorilla!", but at least it doesn't scream "fake" in your face as probably most TV apes in the past did.

I felt the reunion moment was quite touching and it makes me wonder how big of a role this event in going to play in upcoming episodes. The gorilla looks realistic enough to keep playing a supporting role in the future, though i don't really know how they would write him in in the stories, but that's a challenge i would like very much to see undertaken by the show's writers.

It's finally feeling like a whole new show and i think this was the main intention when they decided to kill off Charlie Sheen's character and bring Ashton Kutcher to the plate. I for one congratulate the producers of the show and will be looking forward to see how the plot continues developing as the episodes come along.

[Movie] In Time

2011-10-29T16:20:00.000-04:00

A huge buzz surrounded this film before being finally released, and being a fan of science fiction myself, I couldn't help but give In Time a chance, in spite of it being too tied to such a "big name" such as Justin Timberlake. And while I can't say the movie disappointed, it wasn't the thriller I expected either.

The story here goes something along these lines: in the future, humans are born genetically altered to have a digital clock on their arms, and when they turn 25, they stop aging, but they have only one year left to live… unless they buy or earn more time, meaning they can live forever as 25-year-olds if they can afford it. Not a bad premise, but the overall plot elements really ruined this flick for me.

WHAT TO LOVE
The idea for the movie was great, it was a very cool concept, and whole "future-retro" look was awesome too. Photography was great, acting was decent enough (not top-notch by any means, except for Cillian Murphy, that even if a little type-cast here, is always an amazing actor), and the underlined social commentary about redistributing the wealth of the world so everyone can have a decent life, was pretty well done.

WHAT TO HATE
Stupid plot factors that could have derailed the movie at any point. I mean, in a society with cameras everywhere, did Will Salas really had to go all the way to the bridge to see the corpse of the guy who gave him all those years? He was already there.. had he not gone there, he would have never been a suspect of robbing him, and the whole movie wouldn't have existed. Then, even after knowing he was a fully identified fugitive, he goes hiding at his own apartment, leaving himself super easy to be found? Childish mistakes I wish wouldn't have been made.

WHAT TO IGNORE
The gang of "Time-thieves" was only relevant at the beginning of the movie, when they gave a reason for the rich guy and Will to pair up and eventually make the time-transfer that gave way to the rest of the movie. After that, their existence was totally irrelevant, as only the Time-keeper cops had any incidence on the overall plot. It felt like those thieves were put in the movie only to have some "pretty faces" thrown in there to attract a wider female audience, which always seems too much of a cheap move to me.

THE VERDICT
Not a bad movie, it had some entertaining moments, it didn't have any gratuitous sex scenes (which it didn't need at all), but those stupid bland silly holes in the plot ruined it too much for me. I'd still recommend it if you want to watch some light sci-fi, don't don't expect to be mind-blown at all, 'cause you won't.

[Movie] Perfect Sense

2011-10-08T09:08:00.000-04:00

I have no idea what drew me to watch this movie… can't remember if I saw a trailer, or if it was a recommendation, but I can't believe I almost missed one of the best movies I've ever seen. Not one of my favorites, BUT one of the best, nonetheless.

In a novel and original take on an eventual apocalypse, people all over the world start losing their senses one by one, with smell and taste being the first ones to go. Heavy human emotions precede each loss, and when most of your senses are gone, it's pretty much lights out for everyone. Literally.

WHAT TO LOVE
This film is one of those perfect examples that as long as you have a good plot idea and know how to properly unfold it, you don't need giant budgets to produce an outstanding and moving work of art. You get a good "sense" (see what i did there?) of what the characters are feeling as they're losing their smell, taste and hearing, and brings everything to a perfect close when the whole world goes blind. Just magnificent. Oh, and the soundtrack: simply amazing.

WHAT TO HATE
In some movies, such as this, I lament having this "what to hate" section, because really, for me to say this is one of the best movies I've ever seen, doesn't leave almost any room for anything bad to say about it. Maybe the fact they didn't show the loss of the touch sense before the loss of sight? But I'm just grasping for straws here, there's pretty much nothing to hate here.

WHAT TO IGNORE
After Susan realizes that all the nasty things that Michael said to her just before losing his hearing were only because of the disease, she still doesn't go back to him. This probably was done so the ending of the movie was even more emotion-filled, but, it was just a very small detail in an otherwise impeccable plot.

THE VERDICT
Like I said before, this is one of the best made movies I've ever seen, but I do realize it may not be for everyone. But if you're into intelligent story lines and involved plot development, by all means check this film out. Hope you'll be as delighted as I was.