Under the Dome Premiere Review

Wow, I've been writing a lot of stuff for us lately. Then again, I've had quite a few things I've wanted to talk about, so it has kind of just worked out perfectly for me. I'll start this off by saying that I'm a HUGE Stephen King fan. I've seen most of the miniseries and movies based on his work, and I've read a shit load of his books. He's probably one of, if not my favorite author of all time. (Very original of me, I know.) So seeing a commercial for this series a couple of weeks ago, I got kind of excited and kind of a "I'll wait and see" kind of feeling. After seeing Bag of Bones, I couldn't get my hopes too high for another miniseries/show based on his work.

With all of that being said, lets get into this shit. I'll just go ahead and say it...I really enjoyed the premiere of Under the Dome. Well, I did give it 4 stars...so if you aren't blind (sorry if you are) you would see that I thought this was pretty damn stellar. I mean, it has Hank from Breaking Bad in it, how could I NOT like it?! The plot is pretty simple, an invisible dome covers a small town in the good old USA. But there's quite a bit more going on in this, but the episodes clearly focuses more on the utter shock of the people realizing what the fuck is happening. We don't know how or why this happened, but shit just got real.

There's also quite a few of those actors that you'll be like "HEY, I KNOW HIM/HER FROM SOMETHING!" Kind of like Hank from Breaking Bad for me. :D There has obviously only been one episode, so I don't have too much to really judge at this point, but I have pretty decent hopes that this will end up being pretty damn great. It seriously can't be worse than Bag of Bones...that was reaaaaaaaaally not so good. What the fuck were they even thinking?!?!?!

Now I'd like to point out a theme that seems to be happening these days. There are now a bunch of horror/thriller/put genre that fits with these two here kinda shows coming out or that are already out these days. Bates Motel, Hannibal, Under the Dome, and soon to be Sleepy Hollow. So far I have not been let down. But I get a feeling even more of these kind of shows will come out...and it may really water down the whole thing. I hope I'm wrong, but I'll live with Hannibal and Bates Motel...and hopefully I can say the same for Under the Dome when things are all said and done. I just don't want to be force fed shit because these shows have been successful.

But to wrap this thing up, I'd say this is really worth a look. It breezed by for me, so I'd imagine you could take the time to check this out. If it's not for you, great. But if you end up liking it, I'd say you're smarter than the person who didn't like it. Just throwing that one out there. It airs on CBS...so basically any person who has a TV can check it out. Do you have a TV? No?! Well how are you reading this if you don't even have the money to buy a TV? Get your priorities in order, jackass.

TV Spectacular Review Podcast

Hey guy! So we are doing something special for you guys, we are reviewing television and streaming shows. There are a bunch we talk about and we do it rapid fire and we manage to do it all in under an hour! It's like magic. So tune in and listen and enjoy.

Episode 16 - TV Spectacular

Doctor Who - "The Crimson Horror" Review

Doctor Who is my Jam. I love this show. Which usually puts me in these blinders and a bias about it in general. But something started to form last season. Something I couldn't talk about because Whovians would  throw a shit fit. Well, here we go. I do not like how Steven Moffat writes. Blasphemy, I know. It's like he doesn't know who to follow in the show. Episodes where the Doctor has been away for 100 years, or that Amy and Rory have been gone 5 years are maddening. Remember when Russell T Davis was the lead writer and the stories would connect? You always saw where the Doctor was next. He would step into the Tardis and the adventure would continue from there. Not years later. As well as, Moffat write as if the last 50 years of Doctor Who didn't happen, and ignores everything in the past... eh, that's a cheap shot, because he does make little nods. Ok, so he brought River Song with, but her story is weak as hell. I felt we should have had at least one god damned episode where she was the companion. Another thing about that episode, Spoilers Ahead!

Eureka Series Review

Eureka is one of those show that I kept putting off. When it first came out I was intrigued but never watched it. I don't remember why I didn't watch it, but I was happy to see if on Netflix. All but the last season, so I had to torrent that one. Don't look at me like that! I'm paying for a streaming site and they don't have all the seasons of a show, what am I suppose to do? Wait? Pssh, whatever.

What is Eureka? It's a science fiction show that takes place in a town called Eureka, were the world's best scientist all live and work for Global Dynamics to develop tomorrows technology. And something is always going wrong. It's a near perfect blend of comedy, drama,and sci-fi. Your main character is the every-man Jack Carter (Colin Ferguson), a US Marshal appointed new town sheriff after an accident incapacitated the old one. Jack gives the show the dumbed down talk you some times need for the science/technobable they spue. I am a fan of science and learning things, so a lot of the time when they used their science speak, I actually understood it. Most of it deals in theory, but in the show they have put it into practice. I remember one episode with they are talking about an experiment where they could discover the Higgs Boson particle, and it's going blow up the town unless the contain it. In real life,the Higgs Boson was just discovered, about four years after that episode aired and all that happened was the news tried to explain what it was and the best they could do was dub it the "God Particle." But this is good, it means the show isn't completely full of shit. It is basic somewhere in reality.

The humor makes this show watchable when things get dumb in a few episodes. That only helps a little when the plot get so far fetched that it's tough to swallow, I am speaking mainly of the time travel episodes. You will get attached to the characters, like Henry, Fargo, Jo, Stark, and the new ones they add near the end. They will tug at the heart strings a bit. My favorite character for a while was Dr. Nathan Stark.We was short with people, a smart ass, he saved the day a lot and I loved it. He was later replaced as my favorite by Wil Wheaton's character Dr. Parrish, just a fucking dick. So Awesome. Douglas Fargo (Neil Grayston), on the other hand, was the weak link for me. We was the comic relief for the show that didn't really need it. A lot of stuff breaks or fucks up because of him. I remember the episode when my thoughts of him turned south. It was a clip show episode (Yes, they have a shitty flash back episode) but they do it in a different way, with using technology to record peoples memories for a time capsule. Then Fargo fucks with the code to change all the memories of him in the database so only good memories are left but it starts erasing peoples actual memories outside the machine. This is like season 3, and this dude does these horrible things, cost millions, if not, billions of dollars worth of damage. I would have fired his ass a long time ago, and thrown him in jail for terrorism of a small town. But no, he gets a slap on the wrist and an "Oh that Fargo! Wah Waaa, Derp" moment instead. To the credit of the writers though, they turned his character around after that and made me actually like him. He even dates Felicia Day's character. I wanna date Felicia Day.

There are a lot of great episodes with a bunch of mediocre ones thrown in so you don't get spoiled. I thoroughly enjoyed this show. And if you enjoy shows like Star Trek, Sherlock, and Big Bang Theory, you'll like this one. Also, unlike some other programs, it actually has an ending, so you aren't left feeling empty knowing it's cancelled going in. Fours stars, easy from me. Go watch it! 

Bates Motel Series Premiere Review

So tonight was the premiere of the new A&E series, Bates Motel. I honestly JUST heard about this show a couple of days ago while browsing ON DEMAND. I was a tad skeptical at first, considering this is a prequel to a classic Horror movie, and we've all seen how horrible prequels/remakes/sequels to classic horror movies can be. Look at The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, it's had so many horrible sequels, a shitty remake, and a shittier prequel to the remake. So I think it was quite fair for me to not go into this with the highest of hopes. I was happily surprised by what I saw.

Now I will forewarn you, I do intend on spoiling a decent bit of the episode. If you have plans on watching the show, I would suggest watching it before you read anymore. With that being said, let's get into the episode. It starts off with Norman Bates finding his father dead. He is obviously very upset by this, but when he tells his Mother to come and see, she just seems more concerned for Norman, and doesn't seem to care too much that her Husband is dead. HMMMM...INTERESTING. We are then taken 6 months after this, where his Mother Norma surprises Norman with their new House and Motel. We also get to see their strong relationship, as they clearly love each other quite a bit.

We are also introduced to a love interest for Norman, Bradley. (Yes, Bradley is a woman, you jerks.) This is when you truly realize how things are quite different. Norman Bates has an iPhone. Yes...NORMAN BATES HAS A FUCKING IPHONE! I don't really mind that this show takes place WAAAY after the original movie came out and is still a prequel, it's just quite strange seeing him using an iPhone. It's interesting to see what would be viewed as the "cool" girl seemingly showing real interest in Norman. We also find out she apparently has a boyfriend, so we'll see where that goes. Another girl, Emma, who has an oxygen tank, seems to be another love interest. Good job, Norman!

Norman is outside doing some straightening up, when a member of the family who used to own the place before it foreclosed, shows up. He is REALLY pissed off, he wants what he feels is his. The fact that these people are living in "his property" clearly doesn't sit well with him. Later we see Bradley and her group of friends, trying to convince Norma to let Norman go "study at the library", but she says no, even though Norman clearly wants to. He has a fit, and sneaks out, but they end up going to a club and party. Also kind of strange to see. But what Norman doesn't know is that the man who wants what is his has come back while he is away. He breaks in and begins to attack and rape Norma. Norman comes home before it's too late to help his mother. The man drives Norma over the edge, leading to her stabbing him to death. This is clearly one of the major events in shaping who Norman becomes. There's also a scene where two cops show up, making us believe one of the cops is a love interest for Norma. This was more of a "let's add suspense, even though we all know nothing bad will happen" scene. The cops clearly weren't going to find the body.

There was still a bit more in the episode, but I feel like I covered the important stuff. (I also just don't feel like spoiling EVERYTHING, but Norman found a book.)  Oh wait, Norman has a brother...he's kind of a dick. But seriously, this was a really solid start to this series. I especially enjoyed Vera Farmiga as Norma. I honestly am very excited to see where they go next. (Yeah, I know where we end up going, but I'm excited for the ride before all of that...dick.) The relationship between Norma and Norman is both very strong, and very strange. I really can't wait to see next weeks episode. Check it out!

Oddities Review

New York City's Obscura Antiques & Oddities ain't your grandmother's antique shop unless your grandmother is an eccentric. Oddities follows this unique store as it deals in the strange and the bizarre, item-wise and client-wise. - IMDB

Oddities is a show on the Science Channel which is very similar in style to Pawn Stars on the History channel, except with fucking WEIRDOS! I don't mean to sound insensitive or anything, but people buying and selling dead cats, stuffed two headed calves, cycloptic pig fetuses, old ass medical equipment, various skeletons (both animal and human!), etc...sorry, I find them to be a bit on the strange side.  Not to mention I'm reasonably certain that at least a couple of their customers are in fact serial killers and probably have people tied up in their basement right now!  However, all that being said, I have to compare watching this show to my meth addiction: I know it's not good for me, but I just can't seem to stop!  Although strange, the show is pretty entertaining, or at the very least keeps you guessing as to what is gonna come through the door next.
Also, please come rescue me...this basement smells weird and they don't have netflix.

Zero Hour Pilot Review

"Revolves around a bizarre twist of fate that pulls a man who's spent 20 years as the editor of a skeptics magazine into one of the most compelling conspiracies in human history." - IMDB

Last week, in what I can only describe as their latest attempt to further confuse and annoy me, ABC released their new drama, Zero Hour.  If you were to ask, "Hey, what would it look like if National Treasure and Hellboy got together and had a drunken fling?"  Well here ya go!  Now, I'm not saying that this pairing is necessarily a bad thing.  I mean, there are Nazis, the occult, strange artifacts, crazy maps found in weird places, and even a historical ship full of dead people buried in middle of sno-where!(see what I did there, cause snow?...ah, bite me!)  The opening itself seems kind of dark and exciting and leaves you craving answers.  Based on the introduction of the story alone, this is gonna be some good shit!  However, if this first episode is any indication of how the writing, acting, and dialog is going to be, then we're gonna be disappointed.  I kinda don't know how to describe it other then,well...bad.  It's just really bad.  It's like this first episode should have been three nicely paced episodes, but instead they shoved it all into this clunky mess with no room for us to give a shit about any of these people.  The dialog to me sounds like the verbal representation of someone trying to ride a tricycle up a flight of stairs, and makes just about as much sense.  It's full of trite exchanges like, "I'll do you a solid." "I'm with the FBI!" "I don't trust you lady!" "I'm trained with a gun and licensed to use it!" (I'll post the trailer below. Seriously, try not wanting to punch someone after everything Anthony Edwards says!) That's the most frustrating thing about this show because I feel like the story itself has a lot of potential, because I'm quite intrigued by what is actually going on.  I'm really hoping that past this first episode they have time to develop the characters a bit, but I don't have a lot of faith.  So, I'll leave it up to you whether or not you want to try this out.  We're probably going to end up with a cancelled show and a bunch of unanswered questions. Against my better judgement, I'm gonna give it another couple of episodes before I give up on it.  Don't say I didn't warn you though.