TV Review: Veronica Mars 1×10 “An Echoll’s Family Christmas”

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Buy Veronica Mars – The Complete First Seasonon Amazon.com

This Christmas episode from season one of Veronica Mars starts out with Veronica and Keith decorating the tree. This caring family environment is quickly brought into stark contrast when we head to the Echoll’s house. Logan is hosting a poker game. Duncan appears to be drunk. Weirdly, Weevil is playing with them. We’ve come in at the end of the game. It’s down to Logan and Weevil. Weevil wins and Logan goes to pay him, however the money box is empty. This does not go over well with Weevil. Through Weevil’s efforts to find the money, we find out Duncan and Logan both own the same reindeer boxer shorts.

Weevil starts stealing the 09ers possessions, saying they’ll get them back when he gets his money. Duncan’s laptop is missing, so Veronica goes to Weevil and says she’ll solve the case. Weevil tells Veronica how he bought into the poker game.

Meanwhile, Keith is hired by Lynn Echolls to find out who is stalking her husband, Aaron. They’re throwing a big Christmas party and she doesn’t want anything to go wrong. This doesn’t end up working out too well, and Aaron’s affairs are brought into the open.

Duncan thinks Logan stole the money, so he and Logan aren’t getting along too well. Veronica talks to Sean and Connor, who were also there. The clues keep coming. Everyone had an opportunity to steal the money, and everyone seems to have been hiding something.

I won’t give away the answer to the mystery, but it’s a good one. Veronica makes them all gather for another poker game and buy her in, she wants to send her dad to baseball camp for Christmas. Before the game, she unravels the mystery, then takes the place of the guilty party.

This is one of my favorite episodes of Veronica Mars. I often have no idea who commits the crimes on this show, but this case was extremely surprising to me. I also really enjoy the scene with Veronica and Logan. It is a hint at what’s to come and has the great line, “Annoy tiny blonde one, annoy like the wind.”

This is also a big episode in the overall continuity of the show. This isn’t just a throwaway holiday episode. There are things in this episode that affect the rest of the series. I think this is an excellent example of a great holiday episode of television.

(photo: Warner Brothers/vm-caps.com)

Book Review- “Interview with the Vampire”

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Buy Interview with the Vampire on Amazon.com

Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice is the story of Louis in the series, The Vampire Chronicles. Louis is a wealthy aristocrat in New Orleans. He is bitten by the vampire, Lestat. Lestat makes him into his only companion. Louis struggles with being a vampire. He questions things like good and evil. He only feeds on animals for many years. Lestat will not answer any of Louis’ questions about being a vampire or if there are others. Lestat does not want to lose his companion.

Lestat finally convinces Louis that he must feed on humans. Louis does this, but only on the worst of them, until one night. Louis finds a young girl next to her dead mother one night during his hunt. The girl is close to death. He feeds on the girl, and then Lestat turns her into a vampire. By doing this, he is able to keep Louis from leaving him. Louis has become increasingly repulsed by Lestat, but is now tied to him by their new “vampire daughter.” They name her Claudia.

Claudia’s body remains that of a young girl, but her brain matures. She takes to killing very easily. Louis dotes on her and is happy for a time. After many years of living as a “family,” Claudia decides they should kill Lestat. She’s no fonder of him than Louis has been. She also wants to seek out the “old world” vampires in Europe, and Lestat is dead set against that.

I won’t go any further, so as not to spoil the main plot of the book. The story is told by Louis to a reporter, so sometimes it jumps out of the narrative. It’s a very effective story telling technique. It’s nice to have the reporter there to react or ask questions.

I’ve only seen the movie version of Interview with the Vampire once, but from what I remember, the movie did a great job of depicting the book. One thing that can’t come across in the movie as well is Louis’ inner struggle. He is very torn by his vampire nature against his morality. He still thinks as a human, as the vampire Armand puts it late in the book.

I definitely recommend this book, especially if you like vampires. I plan to continue on with the whole Vampire Chronicles series.

DVD Review: Superman/Batman Public Enemies

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Buy Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (Two-Disc Special Edition)
or Superman/Batman: Public Enemies [Blu-ray] on Amazon.com

*contains very light spoilers*

200px-SupbatpubI start this review by saying I have not read the comics this movie is based on. I have heard from other, however, that it’s done very well in relation to the story in the comics. This review will be based on my opinions coming solely from viewing the DVD. There will be light spoilers, but I won’t reveal large plot points.

To begin, Lex Luthor is elected President of the United States. President Luthor wants all superheroes in service of the government. Those who don’t agree to work for him will find out they are not above the law. Superman, of course, refuses to work for Luthor. He knows he’s up to something.

There is a massive meteor made of Kryptonite heading towards earth. Luthor wants to be the one to destroy it, so he can get the credit. That is behind closed doors though. He publicly announced that he wants to work with Superman to destroy the meteor.

Superman meets with Luthor, but Luthor brought Metallo with him. This weakens Superman and he pushes Luthor down. Luthor flees, while Superman is left to have an all out brawl with Metallo. This fight is awesome! Batman steps in, but he and Superman are no match for the machine that just keeps coming. They escape to Batman’s cave.

They find out, however, that Metallo is dead. Luthor is saying that Superman killed the innocent John Corbin and must be stopped. He has a video of Superman pushing him down and part of the fight with Metallo. Luthor claims the Kryptonite in the meteor is affecting Superman’s mind and offers a 1 billion dollar reward for his defeat.

This causes Superman and Batman to be confronted by a hoard of super villains, plus the super heroes working for Luthor. There are some great fights here as well. They must try to convince the other super heroes that they are on the wrong side. That’s all I’ll say about the plot, except four words: Lex Luthor Kryptonite Suit.

The story is really entertaining, with plenty of twists to keep your attention. There are loads of names you’ll recognize if you’re a DC comics fan. I didn’t know all of them, but that gives me the excuse to pull out my DC Encyclopedia. Powergirl, Hawkman, and Toy Man are just a few of the names of appear. I also really enjoyed the relationship between Superman and Batman. They had a lot of great jokes between the two. I’d highly recommend this movie. It’s one of my favorites among the DC animated features.

(Photo: Warner Home Video)

Why You Should Be Watching Eastwick

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The ABC drama, Eastwick, centers around three women who live in the town of Eastwick. They’re quite ordinary when we first meet them, though each has a very distinct personality. Weird things begin to happen when Bun, the head of the Eastwick Historical Society, is attacked by army ants.

This happens on the day that Darryl Van Horne moves into town. Darryl is a very wealthy, charming, and mysterious newcomer. He moves in and takes an instant interest in the three main ladies, who I should probably introduce now.

Roxie is the blonde bombshell, even if she is a little older. She’s dating a younger man, probably to make herself feel younger. Roxie is an artist. She has her own store, where she sells her bizarre creations. She has a daughter named Mia. After Darryl comes to town, she starts to have strange but psychic dreams. She also seems to have the power to make things happen by just wanting it. There is some sort of footnote to that power, though, because not everything she wants happens. My theory is, it has something to do with how bad she wants it.

Roxie also has a vision of someone killing her, then the person in her vision shows up in town. She decides the vision must be wrong and agrees to rent Jamie, the Johnny Depp look-a-like, the apartment above her shop.

Joanna is a shy and awkward newspaper reporter. Her best friend is named Penny and works at the paper with her. She has a crush on the newspaper photographer, Will. She always stumbles and says inappropriate things when talking to Will. After Darryl arrives, however, she is able to look into a man’s eyes and tell them what to do. Better yet, they do it. Joanna uses her charms on Will, but then wonders if he really likes her. Joanna also starts to investigate Darryl, and comes up with some very interesting and unbelievable information.

Kat is a mother of five and married to Raymond. She’s a registered nurse and is always taking care of everyone else. Raymond is very controlling and they start to have problems when she begins hanging out with Joanna and Roxie. Kat grows a backbone and lets Raymond know he can’t tell her what to do anymore, or maybe the lightning did that. Kat can control the elements, or so it seems. She may or may not be divorcing Raymond. That’s up in the air.

Eastwick is really entertaining. I’ve heard people compare it to Desperate Housewives with magic. It’s also very mysterious. You know the ladies have powers, but why or where they came from is unknown right now. I think everyone should check out this very interesting drama. It’s actually different from anything on television right now, and a nice change of pace. Also, it’s just a lot of fun.

TV Show Review: Big Brother 11 The First Four Evictions

bbwk4 I was out of town for a couple weeks, so this is going to be a summation and review of the first four evictions in the Big Brother house this season. It’s been a crazy and hostile house already this year. There a lot of strong personalities clashing.

The first week, when Jesse was HOH, Braden and Shima were nominated. The cliques were divided on what to do. Alliances have not been formed based on what clique the houseguests were in. On eviction night, Ronnie voted to evict Braden even though he had promised he would keep him. Of course, he promised that to both sides. So, Ronnie did vote for his clique-mate Shima, but Michele did not. Jesse had to bread the tie and Braden when home.

Ronnie was the next HOH. He promised to do something that would turn the house upside down. He, however, did not. He stuck by the athletes, well some of them. He nominated Laura and Jeff, who was an athlete but not getting along with his clique. Jeff won the Power of Veto, which he used on himself, and Jordan was put up as a replacement nominee. Ronnie was called out for playing both sides and stayed in his HOH room a lot. When he did come out, Russell would follow him around calling him a rat. Laura was eventually evicted.

In the HOH competition, Jesse prevailed…again. He really doesn’t need to win anything that will make himself think he’s better than he already does. He nominated Jordan and Michele, and Michele won the PoV removing herself from the block. She was replaced with Casey. Casey found out Jesse wanted him voted out and became a bit of a sore loser his last few days. The speeches on eviction night have been crazy this season. Calling people out, telling other houseguests what they think of them. These people aren’t afraid to speak their minds. Casey was evicted and the cliques were demolished.

This last week started out with Russell winning HOH. It was an endurance competition and it was Russell and Jeff at the end. Russell made a deal that Jeff and Jordan were safe to get the HOH. Russell was starting to see that Jesse, Shima, and Natalie weren’t looking out for his best interest. He nominated Ronnie and Lydia, which Jesse wasn’t happy about, because Ronnie was with them. Michele won the PoV again and did not use it, even though Ronnie tried to threaten her into it. There were a lot of fights this week with people getting the Big Brother restraining order, which means they have to stay three feet from each other. Ronnie went home! Now, I’m trying to be unbiased here, but when a person goes in saying they’ve watched the show religiously ever since it was on and knows how to play the game and then acts like Ronnie. I have no sympathy at all.

So that’s the wrap up for the first four weeks. The way this is going, I only see it getting better. The Coup D Etat has been introduced again this season and Jeff is in possession of it. Shima is the HOH, so next week he has the option to remove her nominations and replace them with his own. It could be very excited. Stay tuned to Big Brother to find out what happens.

Review: Big Brother 11 — Meet the Houseguests.

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The Big Brother 11 houseguests entered the house on Thursday night.  Well, actually they entered about a week before, but they showed it on TV  this Thursday.  Twelve people entered the house and selected their sleeping arrangements, but there is of course a twist.  We’ll get to that in a minute.

The houseguests were introducing themselves and getting to know each other when host Julie Chen came on their TV.  The houseguests will be playing in high school cliques this year.  They will still play as individuals, but if a member of a clique wins HOH, the other members of their clique are safe from eviction as well.  The cliques are as follows: popular, athletes, brains, and off beat.

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Movie Review: Justice League: The New Frontier

1Buy Justice League – The New Frontier (Two-Disc Special Edition) on Amazon.


200px-newfrontier2 Hal Jordan is shot down in his plane, even though it’s just been announced that the Korean War is over. He is forced to shoot an enemy soldier in self defense and ends up in a hospital because of the trauma. His time in the hospital makes it difficult for him to find a position as a pilot in the future.

The Martian Manhunter has been accidentally transported to earth by a curious scientist. The scientist has a heart attack and Martian Manhunter takes on his persona, since he can’t return to Mars. He takes to learning about the human race by interacting and watching television.

Superman and Wonder Woman argue over justice and if superheroes should be allowed to distribute it. The Justice Society has disbanded and Batman is a fugitive. The government is distrusting of the heroes.

This is the set up for a full length animated movie about how the Justice League comes to be. The movie includes an all star cast. David Boreanaz as Hal Jordan, Miguel Ferrer as J’onn J’onzz, Lucy Lawless as Wonder Woman, Kyle MacLachlan as Superman, Kyra Sedgwick as Lois Lane, and Neil Patrick Harris as The Flash.

A Cult surrounding a mysterious being called the Centre is showing up in the lives of several of the heroes. Batman and J’onzz team up to investigate the Centre, until J’onzz decides to try and leave the planet. He finds out about Hal Jordan’s mission to Mars and tries to hitch a ride. He doesn’t feel at home one Earth with all the hatred and conformity. He misses his chance and is captured instead.

The Flash decides to quite the hero business, since no one seems to want them anyway. He doesn’t want to put his loved ones at risk.

Hal Jordan’s Mars mission fails and he’s rescued by Superman. Abin Sur, the Green Lantern of Sector 2814, is fatally injured and leaves Hal his ring and information about the Centre, who is a monstrous creature that fears humans and wants to rid the planet of them. Hal must now work to stop the Centre, as the new Green Lantern.

The Centre attacks and the heroes come together to fight it. After a rousing speech about trusting each other as human beings Superman goes to fight the Centre, but is defeated. Thinking Superman is dead Hal Jordan, Batman, Martian Manhunter, The Flash, and even the Green Arrow come up with a plan to defeat the Centre.

The New Frontier explores themes of teamwork, paranoia, freedom, trust, and justice. It has origins for Green Lantern and Martian Manhunter and some deeper insight into Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and the Flash. It successfully focuses on more than one superhero with development for all of them. It would be great to see a live action Justice League movie as well done as this.

Favorite quote: Batman to the Martian Manhunter- “I have a $70,000 sliver of radioactive meteor to stop the one in Metropolis. With you, all I need is a penny for a book of matches.”

11 Big Reasons to watch Big Brother

Big Brother is a reality show that comes around every summer, and one winter during the writer’s strike.  They stick a number of people in a house and let them fight it out until the summer’s end.  Well, sort of.

This year’s Big Brother begins July 9th.  Check out the details at http://www.cbs.com/primetime/big_brother/

Since this is season 11, here are 11 reasons you should watch Big Brother this summer.

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