Once Upon a Time ABC aired a fantasy show....

And now we come to the second fairy tale based show that has been offered up for our viewing pleasure, Once Upon a Time.  The plot behind this offering is this: Emma Swan (Jennifer Morrison) is a bounty hunter in Boston.  Late one night a 10 year old boy, Henry, (Jared S. Gilmore) comes calling and says 'Hi Mom!  I'm the son you gave up for adoption"*  Clearly Emma is a bit freaked and offers to take him home to Storybrooke, Maine.  Turns out, Henry has been reading a book of fairy tales, which reads more like a history of the fairy tale word.


Track change!


In the fairy tale world, Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin)  is getting married to Prince James Charming (Josh Dallas).  As one would expect, the Evil Queen (Lana Parilla) is less than pleased with this.  So, the Evil Queen makes a threat about some great and powerful curse, then disappears.


Snow White is understandably nervous about said curse, so who do we go visit?  Rumplestiltskin (Robert Carlyle), of course because he knows all.


I inturrupt this review of Once Upon a Time to get on my Stargate soap box.  I'll make it quick.  The only good that came out of the cancellation of Stargate: Universe is that it freed Robery Carlyle to play Rumplestiltskin.  The man channels Gollum and chews scenery.  Awesome choice for the role.  And, done.


Rumplestiltskin explains that the curse will send them all to a bad place (our world).  Only way to stop it is to place the child of Snow White (Emma, BTW) in a magic wardrobe so she can come back and save the land of fairy tales.


Each fairy tale character now has a 'real world' counterpart. In that the mayor of Storybrooke is really the Evil Queen!  Oh, and also Henry's adoptive mother.  Awkward and tension filled meetings between Emma and the mayor ensue.


So, in short I really like this.  I might even say I like it a touch better than Grimm.  I was a bit worried at first.  ABC?  Sunday nights?  My fears were un-warranted.  The tone is not as light as one would expect, nor is it as dark as it could be.  The graphics at times were a little wanting, but overall not bad for a TV show.  The two creators of the show spent time as writers on LOST, so the writing is quite strong.  I've cranked through the first three or so episodes so far with my wife (who I think likes it more than I) and we are both looking forward to the continuation of this show.  If you like fairy tales with a twist, this show is for you.


*I may have edited that.

You'll never guess what I'm doing!

Well, ok some of you might guess if you've noticed anything on Facebook and/or Twitter.  But, I have started studying Muay Thai and Krav Maga.

Muay Thai is kickboxing.  So I'm learning kicks, punches, elbows and knee strikes.  Its a heck of a lot of  fun.  Krav Maga is the Israeli self defense system.  So I learn things like how to break out of choke holds, knife attacks and the like.

So far so good.  Its a great workout.  And hey, if I stick with it I could get a black belt.

Here is the site for the school I am learning at.

ABD - Norwich, CT

Grimm: Great new show or fairy tale legend?

So, this television season has us looking at two similarly themed shows.  Grimm and Once Upon a Time.  Both dealing with the tales of the Brothers Grimm, the two seem have to have very different approaches.  However, since this humble writer has yet to see Once Upon a Time, this will cover my first impressions of Grimm, based solely on one episode.

Only one episode you ask?  How can one base a show on only one episode?  Well, for starters, it has the recommendation of my wife.  When one considers that this fare is not normally in her viewing repertoire, that is saying something.

So, to the premise.  Nick Burkhardt (David Giuntilo) learns that he is next in line of a long line of fairy tale monster killers.  Which means exactly what you might think it means.  This guy's family has been slaying things such as big bad wolves and the like for centuries.  Side note, they are also decedents of the Brothers Grimm.  Second side note: the Grimms are hunted by (you guessed it) Grimm Reapers.  Witty, I know.

And then one day, Nick's aunt shows up with a trailer load of happy fun time medieval weapons.  Turns out she knows her time is coming to an end and she's arrived to rock Nick's world by informing him that he is to pick up the mantle of the Grimms.  Oh, and in standard storytelling patterns Nick can't tell any one what he is, including his fiance and partner on the Portland Police department.

To the plot of the first episode!  A college student is jogging in her read hoodie sweatshirt, rocking to some 'Sweet Dreams' by the Eurythmics, when BAM she's pulled off the path and disappears.  Nick and his partner Hank Griffin (Russell Hornsby) are assigned to the case.  In studying his aunt's materials, Nick figures that the girl was attacked by the Big Bad Wolf.  (Your first clue was the red hoodie the college student was wearing).  We meet up with Monroe (Silas Weir Mitchell) a reformed Big Bad Wolf.  Despite a bit of... animosity between Nick and Monroe, they are able to find the Big Bad Wolf responsible for the murder of the college student and capture of a young girl.  And then, the episode ends with Marilyn Manson's version of 'Sweet Dreams' playing in the background.  Oh, and there are some hints of larger conspiracies and all that, but I'll need that to play out a bit more before I can pass sufficient judgement.

I really like this show.  Yes, its only been one episode that I've watched, but its got a good mix of dark and slightly silly to maintain itself.  I hope that this show carries on a long time.  And given that it does not air on FOX, it should be able to do that.

Take Me Home Tonight (2011)

From the moment I saw the trailer for this film, I knew it would be for me.  A movie set in the 80's?  With awesome 80's music?  Yes please!


So to start with, the main characters all went to Shermer High.  Yes children, that is the same high school attended by such luminaries as the Breakfast Club.


The cast.  Ahh, the cast.  We have Topher Grace playing MIT grad and stuck in neutral Suncoast Video (yay Suncoast!) attendant Matt Franklin.  His twin Wendy is played by Anna Farris.  The there is Dan Fogler who plays car salesmen extreme, and Matt's best friend Barry Nathan.


So, now that the main characters are lined up, we come to the plot.  Wendy's ass hat boyfriend is holding some annual 'lets all get stupid drunk on Labor Day' party.  The scene is set.  At this party, Matt is carrying on the lie he told his un-requited love Tori Fredriking (Teresa Palmer) that he is a hot shot banker at Goldman Sachs.  Spoiler: he isn't.  Right, should have mentioned that Matt ran into Tori at Suncoast where he pretended he did not work at Suncoast.


So at the part, mass chaos ensues, as it does at parties such as these.  There is even a scene near and dear to my heart as Barry wraps a tie around his head and cuts loose... footloose.  Close personal friends of Lord Zupka, and probably some not as close will know I have done this in my rather checked past.


In the end, you can all kinda figure out what happens next.  Matt woos the girl, takes a jump on a trampoline with her, the lie is discovered and he does crazy shit to prove his good intentions.  Oh, and since this is the 80's there was cocaine involved.


I really liked this movie.  I thought all the characters were well written, it captured what I imagine the 80's to feel like, and the music was awesome.  


One last note...I do think this movie must have set some sort of cinematic record, as Michael Biehn (Matt's dad) DOES NOT DIE.  Weird, I know!  Most (if not all movies) I have that star Mr. Biehn, Mr. Biehn ends up dead.


*yes, I was playing 'Take Me Home Tonight by Eddie Money while writing this.  I know you were wondering.

Star Trek (2009)

So, in a move that could have been either the greatest move known to man, or the biggest flop known to man, a director by the name of JJ Abrams (you know, LOST, Alias, etc) was tapped to bring fresh life to the franchise known as Star Trek.

I remember first hearing about this, and being slightly less than enthused.  A prequel?  Well, ok, but we just had that with Enterprise.  And we all know how that worked out.

But as time went on and more and more details of the movie came to light, the more (cautiously) excited I became.

And then I saw the first teaser.  You know, the one that showed shots of the Enterprise being built, the one with the original December 2008 release date? At that point, I started to feel ok with it. Then the first full trailer came out.

I was hooked.

I've always been a fan of the darker side of Star Trek. I always had a problem with the shiny happy, TOS and TNG, and to a point DS9, but once the Dominion War started, I was loving every moment of it. But this is not a discussion of those shows.

So as time goes on, and the trailers get more and more awesome, I could not wait for the release.

And now the time has arrived. From the first shot I was hooked. I was really digging the way the film was shot, the way space was space. Up was not up, and down was not down. When an unfortunate crewman was sucked into the vacuum of space, sound stopped. The lens flares got to be a bit much, but its a trifling.

So, we see the birth of Kirk as Kirk's dad pilot's the Kelvin into Shinzon's ship, then we fast forward a couple of years and see young Kirk driving a 60's muscle car and listening to...Beastie Boys. To me that was probably the most jarring bit of the film. It just did not fit. So this part establishes Kirk as a rebel, do his own thing type person.

But lets not forget young Spock. On Vulcan he is busy getting teased by his fellow classmates. A very logical choice of course. Smacks a bit of emotion, teasing a fellow student. But they are students, so we let it pass.

Eventually we see two life changing moments for our two stalward heroes. Pike recruits Kirk to Starfleet, and Spock gives a emotionless middle finger to the Vuclan Science Academy, and goes to join Starfleet.


So the stage is set.  I'm not going to go into too much greater detail, as I don't want to spoil anything.  Kirk and Spock have finally assembled the crew that we know and love so much.  In the end, the good guys win and the bad guys loose.  And I loved every moment of it.


A few gentle criticisms...


Lens flares - a bit much, but not that big of a deal as I managed to ignore the majority of them


Size - As bad ass as the newest design of the Enterprise looked, there were some size and scale issues.  Shuttle bay to bridge in only a few bars of the score?  I think not.


Layout - Where was Uhuru working with those giant steam pipe things?  Kind of a random place for a comms officer.  Med bay and bridge, etc seemed really close to.


Fan boy praise...


Visuals - loved them all.  The movie was shot epically and that only helped the power of the film.


Music - Bloody hell.  Some of the best film music I've ever heard.


So, if you like Star Trek, see this movie.  If you don't like Star Trek, see this movie.  This is more than a Star Trek movie, its a good sci-fi movie.