Fall TV 2006 – week one

Jam-packed week! Let’s get right to the shows: Last year, a bunch of new lawyer shows debuted that just didn’t survive. This year, we try again. I already mentioned Justice in my last post. Shark stars James Woods as a top-notch defense attorney switching to head up a team of prosecutors specializing in high-profile cases….

Picking the Pix at the Toronto International Film Festival 2006

Each year it becomes more of a challenge to pick movies to see at the Toronto International Film Festival. It’s not that there aren’t really good movies at the fest, it’s just that I don’t really see very many, so I have to use a set of criteria to choose what to see. I don’t…

The Illusionist – Movie Review

Edward Norton stars as the movie’s namesake—Eisenheim the Illusionist—a stage magician in turn-of-the-20th-century Vienna. His amazing illusions gain him a huge audience, including the prince and his entourage. When Eisenheim asks for a volunteer, the prince puts forward his fiancée (played by Jessica Biel), who happens to be Eisenheim’s old friend. As the childhood sweethearts’…

Monster House – Movie Review

Monster House is the animated tale of a group of kids living in a Leave It To Beaver-style neighbourhood who take on that creepy old house across the street (y’know the one: a cranky old man lives there who apparently hates children and is very strict that no one trespasses). It turns out that (surprise…

YouTube TV

What does a TV geek do for fun during summer hiatus? If you guessed watching YouTube, the internet phenomenon/web site where thousands of users post short video clips for all to view, you’d be correct, but not for the reasons you think. YouTube is definitely the hottest thing on the web since podcasting. Its freely…

Lady in the Water – Movie Review

As a kid, did you believe your bedtime stories? Did you ever think that a particular doorway, a tall old tree, or certain peculiar grown-ups might be more than what they seemed? If you didn’t transfer much magic from bedtime stories into your daily childhood that’s OK, but Lady In the Water might not be…

Superman Returns – Movie Review

Despite the passage of almost three decades, the recycled John Williams theme music not only took me back, but it begged comparisons between Superman Returns and the 1978 Christopher Reeve classic Superman. How does this one match up against its predecessor? How does Brandon Routh do against Reeve? What about Kate Bosworth vs. Margot Kidder…

Cartoons: The Adventure is Back

Do you remember the good ol’ days? When cartoons were full of heroic characters, fantastic villains, and exciting adventures? Remember the days of He-Man? Thundarr? Megatron? Visionaries? Orbots? Herculoids? Space Ghost? Mumm-Ra, the ever-living? Even She-Ra (in her “I’m just like He-Man but targeting the female demographic” kind of way)? For a kid like me,…

Midseason TV Mania, Part 2 (Comedy)

As I described last post, midseason means new shows. The general perception is that it’s only the weaker shows (especially comedies) that come out as midseason replacements but that’s not necessarily the case. I believe Seinfeld premiered in midseason, but this year’s batch definitely doesn’t seem much like Seinfeld (though it does feature one of…