Happy Hallowe’en from Dauntlessmedia.net!  For your reading pleasure, enjoy the following Halloween-themed reviews:

It’s The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown

It’s a wonderfully amusing, entertaining and timeless holiday story. For all the nostalgia that It’s The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown evokes, it still remains an exceptional tale about the mystery and expectations of Halloween night – for the kid in every one of us. The fact that this brief cartoon still finds legions of new fans every year speaks to its almost universal story of bad luck, costumes, and never giving up on your dreams. Without making too much out of Linus and his quest to see The Great Pumpkin, it’s easy to recognize that his travails strike a chord in every one of us – we’ve all desperately wanted something, no matter how unrealistically everyone else though our dreams to be.

The Nightmare Before Christmas

The Nightmare Before Christmas is a wonderfully amusing film. There is a kind of magical quality to it, considering the story itself is fairly simple, straightforward and, for the most part, average. Indeed, the film’s best qualities are more in terms of its style, rather than its substance. That isn’t to say that the movie is shallow, either. Instead, The Nightmare Before Christmas manages to hypnotically weave its story through indelible imagery and musical numbers which manage to convey the spirit of the film – even if general moviegoers don’t fall in love with them.

Sleepy Hollow

Sleepy Hollow, very loosely based on the novel by Washington Irving, is an almost perfect film – from a purely visual standpoint. The settings, the characters, the lighting, the garish splashes of blood … everything is perfectly placed to create a visual style that is uniquely spooky, gothic, memorable and enjoyable. The rest of the film is a fairly standard supernatural murder-mystery plot, wherein the supernatural is being controlled by a person who wants to gain power and wealth in this world. But the film does add some interesting commentary on the ongoing tension between faith and science, and between mysticism and reason. And with a cast of fairly colorful characters, portrayed by some very talented actors, Sleepy Hollow has a lot more positives than negatives.

Van Helsing

Van Helsing is an amusing film. There is certainly enough happening for the movie to keep its audience entertained from start to finish. Its visuals are worthy of praise and the soundtrack nicely compliments the on-screen action. But the problem with this film has to do with plausibility and believability. The template for this film, by Stephen Sommers, was Sommers’ 1999 The Mummy – a film that went to great lengths to portray its events as possible, if not probable. The problem for Van Helsing, however, is that its characters – and its characterizations – are just far too cartoonish to make it a have any teeth. And a monster movie without any bite is unfortunate indeed.

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Batman Forever is a dazzling display of style over substance. The plot is so paint-by-numbers that it barely registers any measure of interest. The characters are pure caricature, with hardly any depth to them whatsoever. Add in singularly amateurish camera movements, chintzy close-ups, bad acting, and a stylized Gotham that is so cartoonish it might as well be a theme-park ride, and you’ve got a film with almost no value whatsoever beyond, perhaps, a tripped out viewing of neon colors and explosions.

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Topics: Comics, Film Review
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“The Cylons were created by man. They rebelled. They evolved. They look – and feel – human. Some are programmed to believe they are human. There are many copies. And they have a plan.”

So began the first episodes of the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica. After four tumultuous seasons, the series returns to its beginnings with the made-for-television (sorta) movie, titled The Plan — which is, ostensibly, a prequel and retcon (retroactive continuity) of the first two season of the series. This is a film for fans of BSG – for those who have seen all four seasons and are looking for an explanation to the original words which accompanied the opening credits to the show. That such an explanation is necessary at all is an indictment of the series itself. But that’s a discussion for another time. What matters is: does this movie not only return BSG to form, but also make up for the missing elements?

Well … not quite.

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Topics: Sci-Fi, TV Reviews
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Patrick Carman’s innovative Skeleton Creek series concludes with its second book, titled Ghost In The Machine — a story which picks up from the suspenseful cliffhanger from the first book. Readers will find that the experience of the second book is very familiar to its predecessor. And, likewise, the story is just as successful – making good use of the established mystery elements. It’s possible that some readers may find the solution a bit too simple or straightforward, but I’m not afraid to admit, the ending was a surprise to me.

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Topics: Book Reviews, Mystery
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It is rare for a movie trailer to become something akin to a work of art. But that’s precisely what many consider the preview for Where The Wild Things Are to be. And I must admit, I agree. It was a moving, memorable short-film, worthy of consideration on its own merits. With that in mind, it sets up a rather difficult expectation. How can the feature film be as good? The fact is, though, Where The Wild Things Are is a fantastically conceived and executed movie. It is a story about something. And the craft with which the story is told is exceptional. This may be one of the best movies of the year.

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Topics: Fantasy, Film Review
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A poem, reportedly written by Anaria after finding the truth about Andira’s past:

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“A true heart should never be doubted.”

“Senate Spy” is a solid installment of the Clone Wars series. Perhaps what is most interesting about this episode is how deliberately it references the Prequel Trilogy – from characters to settings to specific camera “shots.” It’s clear that series is meant to evoke familiar moments from the films in general, but this episode draws very strong parallels to Revenge of the Sith. The story itself seems tailor-made to such comparisons and the result is a very good installment.

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Topics: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, TV Reviews
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“The first step to correcting a mistake is patience.”

It’s an incredibly rich tapestry upon which the Clone Wars series is being woven. If nothing else, “Children of the Jedi” demonstrates the incredible wealth of character, setting, thematic and even technical resources that this series has available to create its stories. The good news is the fact that the Clone Wars almost always makes economical use of its assets. With that in mind, this installment is, truly, a classic – featuring a capable, resourceful villain, relentless heroes, and a quest that is worthy of being told.

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Topics: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, TV Reviews
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Longtime visitors to Dauntlessmedia.net, looking at our Recent Updates page (and a few others), will notice another modification to the site. Dropdown menus have replaced the navigation tabs that, originally, had been featured above the topmost banner. My hope is that the new look will provide an easier method of in-site navigation.

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Visceral.

It is, perhaps, the best way to summarize the experience of hearing the entire soundtrack to The Fellowship of the Rings performed live to a big screen presentation of the theatrical release of the film as part of the Lord of the Rings at Radio City Music Hall concert series. The evening was filled with music and, yes, magic. You almost have to be there to understand just how powerful the music to The Lord of the Rings can be, when performed live. That isn’t to say you cannot appreciate and be moved by the score on CD or mp3. Rather, it’s a testament to how music takes on a life of its own when performed live. And the union of live music to the classic film was, if nothing else, visceral.

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“Young At Heart” is an inconsistent episode. At times it can be thoroughly riveting and, at others, a complete and utter bore. It’s the classic case of high-risk, high-reward –in terms of both character and plot – and, fortunately for the episode, the rewards outweigh the pitfalls. What that means, though, is that viewers need to be able to overlook the episode’s flaws to truly enjoy it. Still, there’s little doubt that this is a classic installment.

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Topics: Mystery, Sci-Fi, TV Reviews
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“Heart of Stone” is an awkward, uneven affair that stumbles its way toward a rather important and well-conceived ending. Conceptually, the episode works fairly well as a vehicle for character exploration and development. But the execution of the ideas leaves much to be desired, resulting in the episode’s subplot being substantially better than its primary conflict. In the end, viewers may be able to look past the faults and accept the story on its merits but, objectively, the miscues doom the episode to mediocrity.

This is the story of how Kira and Odo become trapped on an unstable moon while chasing down a Maquis raider. It is also the tale of how Jake’s friend, Nog, stops being simply “Jake’s friend” and takes a step on his own path by declaring his desire to join Starfleet. The intent for both stories is clear: We’re to get a rather extensive look at the characters’ thoughts, feelings, hopes, fears and so forth. Unfortunately, those explorations are muddied through an overly convoluted plot which, yet again, gives us a main character … who isn’t really the main character.

When Odo and Kira track the Maquis bandit onto the moon, Kira’s foot becomes encased in a kind of crystal that slowly grows and eventually threatens to completely consume her. The production here leaves quite a bit to be desired. The slowly-growing crystal looks ridiculous and, even worse, Kira’s performance is downright horrendous. There’s a reason for this as Kira really isn’t Kira (hint: she’s the leader of the changelings, sent to test Odo’s loyalties). But the revelation doesn’t atone for the awkward and often cringe-inducing parade of bizarre facial expressions and off-kilter delivery of dialogue.

This dynamic reaches its peak when Odo refuses to leave a nearly-encased Kira, exclaiming, “I love you” – to which Kira replies, “I love you, too.” Odo’s feelings toward Kira have been hinted at before but, considering the cornball approach to the rest of the scenes between these two characters, it’s difficult to discern whether or not she really is serious. It is important that Odo would make such a declaration to begin with, but considering the fact the Kira isn’t really Kira, the whole scene has little value beyond Odo explicitly stating what viewers already knew to be true about his feelings.

More interesting is the aftermath of Odo’s discovery and his conversation with the leader of the Founders. She needles Odo about his unrequited love and Odo handles the criticism with aplomb. It nicely demonstrates an all-too-common occurrence: when we have strong emotions from someone is either unable or unwilling to return them. In that sense, the episode works very well at not only delving a bit further into Odo’s inner grief about the matter (his measured acceptance of the status quo notwithstanding), but it’s unfortunate that the episode had to go so far out of its way before getting to the point.

The subplot involving Nog’s quest to become part of Starfleet is a more solid. Having had enough of watching his Quark belittle his father, and having just ascended into Ferengi adulthood, he petitions Sisko for help in becoming a Starfleet officer. Sisko’s reactions are entirely plausible and amusing. But to his credit, he doesn’t reject Nog out of hand and, instead, allows the Ferengi to prove his sincerity. What sells these scenes, however, is Nog who is far, far removed from the annoying little prankster of the first season. The new focus on his aspirations – and the revelations about his father – are like a breath of fresh air for his character.

“Heart of Stone” gets credit for the level of character work it does. But with such an uneven, unrefined approach, it simply doesn’t manage to become a classic. Perhaps the episode’s most truly indelible moment is the one in which Odo relates the story of how he got his name (which means, literally, “nothing” in Cardassian). But once again, because this wasn’t told to the real Kira, the moment is diminished, resulting in a scene which does little more than provide exposition – and it fairly wastes a solid performance from Odo.

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“Lazarus” is the kind of status quo episode which does little to advance the series or its characters and, in fact, manages to be far too derivative to be enjoyable, even as a mindless distraction. To be fair, it does present an interesting paranormal concept – that of changing personalities during a near-death experience. But everything around the idea is carelessly woven into place, leaving too many loose threads and holes to make the entire canvas worth viewing.

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Topics: Mystery, Sci-Fi, TV Reviews
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Ladies and gentleman … welcome to: Soap-Fi, the wonderful world of soap opera, masquerading as science fiction. We had our first deep foray into this brave new world with the hopelessly melodramatic Battlestar Galactica, helmed by Star Trek alum Ronald D. Moore. Our next expedition comes courtesy of yet another Trek alum, Brannon Braga who brings us the super-sudsy Flash Forward. “White To Play” is an episode that wears out its welcome within ten minutes, and then spends the rest of the time trying to re-ingratiate itself to audiences. Truly, this is a terrible episode. Almost nothing happens without fulfilling some ridiculously contrived dramatic construct.

Yes. Flash Forward is already worse than Battlestar Galactica ever was.

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Topics: Mystery, Sci-Fi, TV Reviews
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“Overconfidence is the most dangerous form of carelessness.”

“Cargo of Doom” is a thrilling, fast-paced episode filled with plenty of action and enough twists and turns to keep the pace both frenetic and fresh. Indeed, this episode doesn’t suffer from the same silly contrivances that marred its predecessor. Instead, the episode features smart decisions by everyone involved – making this one of the few times in which we see the bad guys take the upper hand. As a result, this is a fantastic installment of the Clone Wars series.

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Topics: Animation, Sci-Fi, TV Reviews
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