Scott Pilgrim Blu ray

Scott Pilgrim Vs The world is on blu-ray today.

Tons of features, commentaries, and other cool bonus stuff.

Go get it now! If you are still not sure about the movie, read my review of the movie.

The Walking Dead: "Guts"

THE WALKING DEAD

"GUTS"

Season 1, Episode 2

Air date: November 7th, 2010

A whole lot went down in this episode and yet the one thing I wanted to see never happened: A scene with Morgan and Duane. Oh well, maybe we'll see them down the line later this season. Still, we did get the onscreen first appearance of Glenn, Amy, Andrea, and some TV created characters like Merle Dixon and T-Dog. While Rick meets some new survivors in a department store, we get to see a glimpse of life at the survivor camp. First, we get to see that Laurie and Shane's little affair has become more than a "one-time" event as previously seen in the comic: It's a little touch, but Darabont and creator Robert Kirkland knew that it would be best to shake up the story for familiar fans and I for one am glad they are doing it. Next, we get to see that not only do the survivors have to deal with the zombies (or "geeks" and "walkers" as they are called in this episode), but also Merle Dixon's racism and uncontrollable urge to kill. Perhaps we will see more of this character? Only time will tell. For now, you should be on board with The Walking Dead. If not, do your self a favor and watch the pilot and "Guts". Otherwise, you'll be missing out on one of the best new shows of 2010.

Rating: * * * * 1/2 of 5

Hot Tub Time Machine

Starring John Cusack, Rob Corddry, Craig Robinson, Clark Duke, and Chevy Chase

Directed by Steve Pink

Release Date: March 26, 2010


A word of caution: This movie is crude, exceedingly crude, so much so that it may turn off some interested in finishing the film: You've been warned.

When the title of your film is "Hot Tub Time Machine", there's no limit to how oddball and bizarre you can get. At one point, Jacob (Clark Duke) fades in and out of reality for no reason until his uncle Adam (John Cusack) slaps him in the face and he's back to normal (?). Obviously, the actors and the screenwriters knew the story was goofy and took no limits to how satrical one can get with the concepts of time travel from such pop culture staples as Back to the Future, Star Trek, and Doctor Who. The film is very amusing, the actors are definitely enjoying themselves on set, but at times they do use expletives too often (look, I can accept using some language, but when it's every other word, just calm down, ok?). Cusack is enjoyable as always, Corddry is vulgularly hilarious as the overzealous, anger-prone Lou, Robinson gets some funny bits contemplating sleeping with a groupie in 1986 despite being married in 2010, and Duke gets in some sarcastic, snarky bits with Corddry as the two hate each other.

Good movie, but a tad excessive at times.

Rating: * * * 1/2 of 5

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Due Date

Starring Robert Downey Jr., Zach Galifianakis, Jamie Foxx

Directed by Todd Phillips

Release date: November 5, 2010

An admitted "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles" inspired comedy, but a hilarious one. The comedic exchanges between Downey and Galifianakis are hysterical and inspiring, an explosion of comedic masters dueling each other for the title: "Who's gonna steal this scene"? The plot is pretty simple: Peter (Downey) is a high strung father to be kicked off an airplane due to an unfortunate exchange with Ethan (Galifianakis), now has to travel with this fat, bearded man-child to get to his expecting wife in Los Angeles. From that, it's a comedy of awkard conversations, car chases, and a hilarious scene with Peter babysitting.

Rating: * * * * 1/2

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Community: "Aerodynamics of Gender"

"Aerodynamics of Gender"

November 4th, 2010

Season 2, episode 7

"We all make fun of ourselves. Even Tom Cruise knows he's short and nuts".

Let it never be said that Abed can't deliver some killer material from cliched material. In this episode, the group divides into 2 plots: while Troy and Jeff experience the miracle of a secret garden with a sweet trampoline, Britta, Shirley and Annie discover that Abed can make nasty comebacks due to his social ineptitude. Where's Pierce you ask? He's mostly relegated to sneaking into Troy and Jeff's bliss about finding the joys in trampoline bouncing, which pays off with a hilarious physical stunt later on. As usual, Community makes good use of crazy broad humor with good characterization amidst the pop culture references (especially the ROBOCOP POV or the subtle Blade Runner reference). I think one of the best parts of this episode had to be how calm and relaxed jumping on a trampoline can be. Also, the development of Senor Chang's "oh SNAP!" moments go from amusing to downright hysterical.

Rating: * * * * 1/2 of 5

How I met Your Mother: Canning Randy

"Canning Randy"

Season 6, Episode 7

...............Am I the only one who thinks Ted is not only becoming the most annoying character, but the dullest? Honestly, I think they should abandon Ted and refocus the remainder of the series on Marshall, Lily, and Barney (Robin can stay...for now). I mean, Ted is such a jerk that it's becoming hard to care about his journey to find his soul mate, i.e. the titular mother. Take for example this episode: Why did Ted egg on the obviously deranged Zoey and was still surprised to see her heckle him at his architecture class? That's SitCom writing 101, folks. Also, the way he resolved his students deriding him for tearing down the "historic" Arcadian building was insulting to my intelligence. No teacher would use this strategy unless they were desparate or an idiot: Ted is both.

The only real saving grace of this episode was Marshall trying to be a nice guy at his job while at the same time trying to find a constructive way to deal with a co-worker's repeated mistakes.

Rating: * * 1/2 of 5

The Walking Dead: "Days Go Bye"

"Days Go Bye"

Season 1, Episode 1

I'm a big fan of the comic. In fact, I love The Walking Dead so much I tend to think of this as a legitimate heir to George A. Romero's Zombie-lore throne. Therefore, when I found out about the TV adaptation, I was both excited and scared. I realized that just because I was a big fan of the comic did not mean it would be successful (see the box office gross for "Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World"); then I found out that the entire series would be developed by Frank Darabont, director of "The Shawshank Redemption". So, how did the first episode fare in my opinion?

Honestly, the next episode can't get here soon enough. The actors are dead-ringers (no pun intended) for their comic counterparts; hopefully, the actors playing Morgan and Duane Jones will get a subplot about their zombie encounters in the suburbs in addition to the main story. It's too soon to start talking about the other characters so I'll get to the heart of the matter, the zombies. In short, the zombies look great! The make-up effects are fantastic, the prostetics look great, and the zombie crowds are awesome!

If there's one thing I hope the writing staff and Darabont will keep in mind is how to walk the line between being faithful to the comic and finding the series own voice by making unique choices. I know it seems hard, but hear me out: the TV should keep all the themes and mood of the comic while taking risks so that even fans of the comic will be shocked by familiar characters dying sooner or new story arcs in place of treading familiar ground.

Rating: * * * * * of 5