Dollhouse Not many shows (of interest to me) debuted in February, but my most anticipated new show finally emerged from its cocoon of hype. Buffy and Angel creator Joss Whedon’s new series Dollhouse premiered two Fridays ago and I hadn’t been this excited about a show for a long time (and if you look around…
Author: alving4
The International – Movie Review
It’s no big insight that action movies tend to take our societal boogey-men and make them into villains. In times like these, when the downfall of global banks is so acutely felt, it should come as no surprise that The International pits our hero against a corrupt multi-national banking magnate. Clive Owen seems to have…
Books come to life: Coraline and Inkheart – Movie Reviews
I really like the trend to bring books to the screen. I especially like it when they bring fantasy books to life because the technology has reached the point where they can really make magical elements look convincingly real. That hurdle out of the way, fantasy books (especially children and young adult fantasy) have so…
Oscar, Schmoscar 2009
Last year’s Oscars are pretty dead to me. Even to this day I have not watched any of the big winners (I didn’t even do an “Oscar, Schmoscar” post in ’08). This year is a whole other story. I was excited about many of the movies before they even got nominated. I’ve already reviewed The…
Midseason 2009, Part 1: January
As I’ve already written, this midseason has a lot of things going for it. For me, there’s the return of the big three this month: Lost, 24, and Battlestar Galactica. On top of other shows later, like Medium, there are many new shows, including the eagerly anticipated Dollhouse. Premiere dates will span January to March,…
The Reader – Movie Review
Kate Winslet stars as Hanna Schmitz, a woman who has an affair with a teenage boy in Germany. After a few summer months, she moves away and disappears from his life. Years later, that same young man, Michael Berg (played by newcomer David Koss), attends a trial as a law student and sees Hanna again….
Life Stories: Slumdog Millionaire & The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
When I was studying English Literature in university and reading story after story, I could not resist the temptation to see events in my own life as a narrative. You start to pick up on how one thing foreshadows another; how situations can seem to be symmetrical; how timing of events seem to happen for…
2009: Best TV Midseason Ever!
Well, 2008 is coming to a close, and if you’re like me and watching re-showings of The Sound of Music or Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer for the umpteenth time just didn’t do it for you, take heart, for the dawn will be breaking. Let me give you a dozen or so shows that will make…
Valkyrie – Movie Review
All I wanted for Christmas was what Mr. Cruise promised. Of Valkyrie he said, “This isn’t a WW2 movie. This is a conspiracy thriller set in the War.” Like probably most of the audience, that was the hook that got me into the seat. Little did I know that based on the true story as…
Alvin's Adventures in Pop Culture 