Book Review: The Art of Star Wars: The High Republic – Volume 1

 

The Art of Star Wars is a book that is what I would call a coffee table book. It is a mix of artwork/pictures and text. The text talks about how the concept of the High Republic era (which is set a few hundred years before the events of Episode I) came to be, how various characters and creatures were conceived, etc. The pictures range from very rough sketches (almost scribbles in some cases) to the final artwork that appeared on the covers of the various novels and in the graphic novels. The text is written from interviews with the artists/illustrators and the authors of the various High Republic era novels as well as bigwigs at Lucasfilm. It also includes some concept art from the movies and TV series as well.

The hardcover version of the book is just under 230 pages. You can read it from cover to cover, but chances are a lot of people will skim it and mainly focus on the pictures. Either way, it is something that most people can get through in a few hours, or a day at most. It is also a good way for those people who do not get the graphic novels to see some of the characters who are described in the books but are not on the covers (or are not easily identifiable on the covers). It is probably not something that will appeal to casual Star Wars fans, but for the more "die-hard" fans, it is worth checking out.

Book Review: Dragonlance - Dragons of Fate: Dragonlance Destinies: Volume 2

 

Dragons of Fate is, as of this writing, the newest novel in the latest Dragonlance series of novels. The book was written by the authors of the original Dragonlance Chronicles trilogy (which started the entire Dragonlance universe and includes over 200 books) as well as the Legends and Chaos trilogies, Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman. This is the second novel of what is likely to be a trilogy of novels (subtitled Dragons of Destinies) that are a continuation of the novels set around the legacy characters created by Weiss and Hickman back in the 1980s. As most fans of the Dragonlance series know, Weiss and Hickman have returned to the series every so often over the years to pen new novels. Theirs are, in my opinion anyway, the best of the Dragonlance novels.

I will not go into too much detail about the plot to avoid spoiling it, but some details of the first book, Dragons of Deceit, will follow. About half of this book is set in the past, during the Third Dragon War, where Raistlin, Sturm, Destina, and Tasslehoff are stranded after the time device and the Graygem transported them farther back in time than Destina intended. The book starts by giving more detail about what happened when the group was initially sent back in time, and how they came to meet Huma and Magius. Then, they have to figure out how to get back to their time, without changing the past. In the present, Dalamar and Justarius are seeking a way to fix the time device so those trapped in the past can be rescued.

The hardcover version of the book is about 365 pages and reads very quickly. Those who are fans of the series are going to find it hard to put down. Fast readers will easily be able to finish it in a day or two. The story flows very well, and as the authors did at the end of the first book, they tease and set up how the third book is going to begin without giving away anything about how the third book will play out. This is a great return to the Dragonlance universe, the world of Krynn, and the characters that many of us who were kids in the 1980s came to love. Weiss and Hickman do a great job balancing the use of established, legacy characters with new characters. It is absolutely worth reading.

Book Review: Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore – The Complete Screenplay

 

This is the third book/screenplay in the Fantastic Beasts series, which is, of course, a prequel to the Harry Potter series, set during the 1920s. The story details the attempt by Grindelwald to be elected leader of the Wizarding World and Dumbledore's attempt to stop him, with the help of Newt, Jacob, and a bunch of new characters. 

I have not yet watched the movie, but I have seen the first two movies and read the first two screenplays, and those pretty much tracked word-for-word. So, if you have already seen the movie, I suspect this will be exactly what you saw in the movie. As the title of the movie suggests, we learn more about the history between Dumbledore and Grindelwald, and we get the full account of Creedence's origin. The story also includes a lot of Dumbledore's brother, Aberforth, who was a relatively minor character in the last couple of Harry Potter novels and films. However, the character of Tina is pretty much non-existent in the story until the very end. Samantha Waterston, who plays Tina in the movie has speculated she was written out of this one because of the comments she made criticizing J.K. Rowling's stance on transgender individuals. Whether that is true or not we will probably never know, but the character could have certainly been included in the main storyline and was definitely sidelined.

The hardcover version of the book is only about 350 pages long and has a lot of illustrations (which are really good) that are almost storyboards for what (likely) appears in the movie, so it is actually much shorter than that in terms of text. There are also quotes about the story and the characters from the cast of the movie included throughout the book. If you are a fast reader you can easily get through this in a few hours. The story is good. It ties up some of the storylines and definitely sets up at least one more movie and book.

TV Series Review: Heroes

 

++WARNING, there will be some spoilers from throughout the series in my review.++

Heroes was a show that aired on NBC from 2007 to 2010 (during its original airing) and had a true ensemble cast. The cast was made up of relatively unknown actors (at least when the series started) and the series served as the launching pad for the careers of cast members like Milo Ventimiglia, Hayden Panettiere, Masi Oka, and Zachary Quinto. It did have some recognizable, but not superstar actors and actresses such as Greg Grunberg and Ali Larter. There was no superstar actor that everyone would recognize in the cast so the writers had to balance the storylines to involve all of the main cast members. As a result, there were always multiple storylines going on, and it was truly a show that you had to watch from the beginning to really understand what was happening.

The first and second seasons were very very good. The first season was excellent, and like nothing that had been on TV. You knew from the first episode what the characters were going to try to prevent, but there was no way of knowing how it was going to get there. Because of the time travel aspect, the story came in bits and pieces and sometimes out of order. They did not reveal too much about each character too soon. We never got to see Sylar (the main antagonist) until midway through the season, and HRG's (or as we would come to know him Noah Bennet) past and motivations were kept hidden until almost the end of the first season.

I think the series had a clear goal of where it was going in the first and second seasons. You could tell that it was meticulously planned out. However the writer's strike ended the second season midway through, and it had to be cut short. After that, there were some stories from that season that were just abandoned entirely, and I thought those should have been wrapped up before proceeding how they did. It felt like after the strike the writers never had a clear plan for the show. I did not like how the third season made Nathan into a villain. He had always had a grey moral compass, but it seemed that had gone away at the end of the first season and with the second. But then he did a complete 180 (almost anyway) then they decided to try to make him likable again by giving the impression that he was just in over his head.

I think the 4th season actually wrapped the series up very well. While it was not intended to be the end of the show (it was not canceled until after the season had ended), it tied up everyone's stories and left a lot to your own imagination. The reason I think the show declined, is that while the main "big" storylines changed every season, the individual stories within that got very repetitive. They kept too many characters around for too long and kept the characters going through the same conflicts and experiences over and over. While this did change somewhat by the 4th season, I think too many people had abandoned the show by then.

I definitely think it is better to see the series all at once. The stories do tend to flow a little better than when there were months between seasons. Plus it is just easier to follow with all the time jumps, flash-backs, and character arcs. If you were a fan of the show, it is definitely worth adding to your collection. The series looks great on blu ray, and there are a lot of entertaining extras.

Book Review: Fairy Tale

 

Fairy Tale is a novel published in 2022 and written by the prolific horror author, Stephen King.  I would not say that this is a horror story per-se, but there are certainly some scary elements to the story. The book starts out as a story about a high-school kid who befriends the local grumpy old guy who lives up the street from him, then it becomes a story to save a dog, and then the story ends with a battle to save a strange fairy-tale-like land from an evil that threatens to destroy it. As disparate as those plot points sound, Kimg ties it all together into a story that, while strange at times, makes sense.

The book is relatively long, at just under 600 pages (for the hardcover version), but it is a pretty fast read and it is hard to put down once you get started. I read very fast and was able to get through it in a couple of days. And, it really only took me that long because I read at night before bed. There were no obvious easter eggs to King's other work that I noticed. Although, I will be the first to admit, I am not a King aficionado, so there may be something I missed. He does manage to get a dig in at the orange genital wart even though the book is set before agent orange's presidency. I'd honestly give the book 10 stars if I could. It is absolutely worth reading if you are even a casual fan of King and/or are into the Fantasy genre.

Blu-Ray/TV-Series Review: Charmed - The Complete Series

 

This is the blu-ray box set of the original Charmed series that aired on the WB network from 1998 to 2006 and starred Alyssa Milano, Holly Marie Combs, Shannen Doherty (for the first three seasons), Rose McGowan (for the final four seasons), and in the final season, Kaley Cuoco (after she wrapped on the sitcom 8-Simple Rules and before starring on The Big Bang Theory). The show was set around three sisters in their twenties who also discover that they are witches who have to protect the world (at least San Fransico) from demons, werewolves, and all manner of supernatural beings. It was basically a prime-time soap opera that had a mix of action, drama, and campy comedy. At the beginning of the series, it was mostly a monster-of-the-week kind of show, much like the first season of Buffy was (and given that the two shows aired at the same time, there are a lot of guest stars on Charmed who also appeared on Buffy, and Charmed even did an episode that was a total spoof/homage to Buffy in the later seasons). Then, it began to incorporate larger story arcs that ran throughout the season to become a mix of a serial and procedural show. 

The biggest controversy involving the show was the purported feud between Doherty and Milano. Pretty much everyone involved acknowledged that there was tension between the two. There are rumors that Milano went to the showrunners and basically said "her or me" which Milano has always denied, but it is interesting that Doherty directed the final episode of season three and was gone by season four when Milano became one of the show's producers. In season four, Rose McGowan was brought into the show to essentially replace Doherty's character as a new (conveniently conceived) third sister to keep the "power of three" concept alive. Since the show has gone off the air, Milano and McGowan have feuded with each other on social media, and Combs has made comments that hint at the fact that Milano was more of a problem than either Doherty (who was and still is Combs' best friend) and McGowan (who has become batshit crazy as she has gotten older, if she was not always so) was behind-the-scenes. While the women of the show were the focus, the show had some great male stars as well, including Brian Krause, who played Leo, Piper's love interest throughout the series, Julian McMahon, who played Cole, a demon who became a love interest for Phoebe, and Dorian Gregory, who played inspector Daryl Morris, who was a cop whose cases the girls helped solve and/or cover-up the supernatural elements of the crimes. The show really did the character of Morris dirty, reducing his role so much over the course of time that he was barely in the show in seasons six and seven, and when he was, he rarely had anything productive (with some exceptions) to add. And, because of budget cuts in season 8, his character was written out of the show completely and only mentioned one time. And, while the character of Prue was mentioned after Doherty left the show, she was never brought back for a cameo appearance like other characters who left the series were from time to time.

It should be noted that this set is just a repackaging of the individual season blu-ray releases. They are the same season sets that you can buy individually, just packed in a decorative outer box. So, if you already purchased in the individual season blu-ray releases, you are not getting anything different by getting this set. Some of the descriptions make it seem like there are a bunch of bonus features that were newly included for this release, and that is not the case. Seasons 1-7 have no bonus content at all, and season 8 carries over the bonus content from the season 8 DVD release and one new interview (from 2021) with producer/director James Conway. There are no new cast/crew interviews, commentary tracks, etc., that were made for this set.

Overall, the show is good, but not as good as other shows in its genre like Buffy and Supernatural. It was definitely a more campy show than either of those two shows and never had the kind of special effects budgets that those shows had. It definitely had elements (like the various states of undress that Milano and McGowan were often in, including an entire episode in which Milano was topless with the exception of pasties over her nipples) that would probably not fly these days. And, it could definitely get a bit soap opera-like with the "I need a man" storylines for Paige and Phoebe. But, if you do not take it too seriously and just take it as a fun show that could be a bit silly but had good themes of family relationships and togetherness and a ridiculously good-looking cast, it is enjoyable. 

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Charmed - Season 8

 

++++Warning, this contains spoilers from the prior season, but no major spoilers from season 8++++

The eighth season of Charmed aired during the 2005-2006 TV season. The showrunners actually did not think that the show would be picked up for an eighth season, which is why the season seven finale was written as if it was a series finale, with the girls "dying" and taking up new identities in order to live normal lives. The show was brought back for what would be a final season on a shoestring budget which required a lot of changes to be made to the show. The biggest among those changes is that many of the recurring characters that have appeared throughout the series were written out, and Brian Krause was downgraded from a series regular to a recurring character. And, the show did not get as many of the big guest stars as they have had in years past, or as many musical acts. In fact, the only popular musical act this season was an appearance by Liz Phair. The big addition to the cast was the character of Billie, a witch who basically teaches herself magic (and ninja skills), played by Kaley Cuoco, who had just wrapped up the series 8-Simple Rules. 

This season had a much better serial arc and mostly dispensed with the monster-of-the-week format. The first third of the series was devoted to undoing the events of the season seven finale and figuring out how to have the girls go back to living their lives and not have to use two sets of actresses, as well as coming up with a way to sideline Leo for much of the rest of the season. The second third of the show sets up what would be the final battle, of course throwing some twists in the plotline, and the final third of the season wrapped up the series.

For those who get the blu-ray, like the prior seasons, this one has German and English language options. This is also the first of the blu-ray sets to have any bonus material, and there is a lot. There are commentary tracks on three episodes, and then over three hours of behind-the-scenes and making-of featurettes that really span the history of the show, not just season 8. Most of them are ported over from the DVD releases and contain interviews with the cast, showrunners, and even fans of the show from around 2006 and 2007. There is one interview with one of the producer/directors of the show from 2021, which was created for the blu-ray release, but that is the only new bonus feature. There are no interviews with the cast members that were created specifically for the blu-ray release.

Overall, the season is good. I think it is better, on the whole, than season seven was, with a better "final battle" storyline, better bad guys, and a bit less campy. Unfortunately, because of the budget cuts, Dorian Gregory did not return (the character of Daryl was done dirty by the show for years, however), and Brian Krause was really only in the show for the first third of the season. And, Shannen Doherty was not brought back or did not come back for the finale. I have seen interviews in which she indicated that a pitch was made to bring her back, but the way in which they would do it made no sense. In the commentary track on the final episode, the showrunners only said that she could not be brought back for a number of reasons. Those reasons may have been money, they may have been because of her feud with Alyssa Milano, or a combination of each. But, the show was able to include some of the former stars here and there throughout the season including Finola Hughes, Scott Jaeck, Wes Ramsey, Drew Fuller, and Jennifer Rhodes. There was also another flashback episode in which we got to see Cole and some of Paige's other boyfriends. 

Ultimately, I think the show did a good job wrapping up the series. I do think the budget cuts hurt the show not only because of the characters that we did not get to see but because the special effects were closer to what they were when the show started in 1998 than what the technology would allow to be done in 2005 and 2006 had the show's budget been larger. And, they ditched the opening theme song that played over the opening credits from seasons 1-7, to the instrumental that played during the closing credits. So, while the season was not perfect, I think fans of the series will be satisfied with how it ended.  

DVD/TV Series Review: The Gifted Season 1

 

The Gifted is a series that is set in the X-Men universe, but in a timeline (or just at a time) in which the X-Men have disappeared and those with mutant powers are shunned by society and are required to be registered (much like the plot of the original X-Men movies), and those who are not being hunted by an anti-mutant Sentinal Services agency (which is obviously based on the concept of the Nazi SS). The first season consisted of 13 episodes that aired during the 2017-2018 TV season and was set around the Strucker family, played by Stephen Moyer (from True Blood) who plays Reed Strucker, Angel alumn Amy Acker who plays Caitlin Strucker, and their children Lauren (played by Natalie Alyn Lind) and Andy (played by Percy Hynes White). Reed is a district attorney who prosecutes mutant cases and is forced to go on the run when Lauren and Andy both manifest mutant abilities. They are eventually helped (reluctantly) by a group of mutants who avoid Sentinal Services, and the lead agent Jace Turner (played by Burn Notice's Colby Bell) and Garrett Dallahunt's character Roderick Campbell, who wants to weaponize the Strucker Children's powers. The rest of the main cast includes Jamie Chung, Blair Redford, Emma Dumont, and Sean Teale. 

The DVD set is just a standard MOD set that just has the 13 episodes spread across three discs. There are no extras or bonus features. So, unless you really prefer physical media over streaming, you don't get anything extra by getting the DVDs.

Overall, the show is very good. It definitely has ties to the X-Men movies, some subtle and some not. Of course, Bryan Singer who directed many of the movies is a producer on the show and directed the pilot, so that is not surprising. It is not entirely clear, however, if this is set in a different universe from the movies where events played out differently, or is set after the bulk of the movies but before the events of the movie Logan. In a way that is good because it means that it can tell its own story while still having some tie-ins with the overall franchise. 

The acting and writing are both very good and the cast has a good mix of recognizable, established actors and relative newcomers. The show has a serial arc that plays out throughout the season, so you cannot really just jump in partway and get everything that is going on. The season ends on a pretty major cliffhanger that leaves the fate of several characters up in the air going into season two. So, if you are a fan of the X-Men movies, then this is definitely worth checking out.

 

DVD/TV Series Review: The Librarians: Season 3

 

The third season of The Librarians aired during the 2016-2107 season and consisted of 10 episodes. The show followed the same format as the first two seasons, having both a serial arc that involved a "big bad" character (which this season was Apep, the Egyptian god of chaos) and story-of-the-week procedural episodes in which the main storyline was resolved by the end of the episode. The show does a good job balancing the ensemble cast, giving each character a lot of good material. One of the best episodes is one that almost exclusively involves Jake and Cassandra who are stuck at a lodge that is hosting what looks to be a corporate retreat (which is also one of the episodes that was directed by Noah Wyle this season). Jane Curtin also returns to reprise her role as Charlene in a great werewolf-themed episode. As usual, Noah Wyle only has a recurring role in the series, but since the other series he was appearing, Falling Skies, ended the previous season, he does appear in more episodes (seven of the ten) and directs two of the episodes this season. 

As far as extras go this season, there is a commentary track on each episode, usually including the series creator, the director of the episode, and one or two cast members. And then there is a director's video blog for each episode. So, you actually get quite a bit of bonus content if you like watching/listening to it. 

Overall, the series continues to be strong. It has a good blend of action and comedy, with some dramatic moments mixed in. The writing and acting continue to be good, and the actors seem to have very good chemistry with each other. The show also continues to get a good slate of guest stars this season including Sean Astin, Felica Day, Ernie Reyes Jr., and Vanessa Williams. So, if you liked seasons 1 and 2, then you will probably enjoy season 3 as well. 

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Charmed Season 7

 

+++Warning, this contains spoilers from the prior season, but no major giveaways from Season 7+++

This is the second to last season of the original Charmed series. This season ran during the 2004-2005 season and has 22 episodes. The show continues to be a blend of a monster or demon-of-the-week procedural combined with a serial arc that runs the course of the season. The serial arc is again about a demon who is attempting to get the sister's powers. There is some carryover from the prior season with Leo still reeling from the death of adult Chris and we get to find out how Wyatt turns evil. Both Drew Fuller and Wes Ramsey make appearances as the adult version of the kids during the season. There is also a bit of closure on Cole's storyline via an appearance by Julian McMahon. 

For those who get the blu-ray, this is yet another region-free set with German and English audio and captioning options. There is, like with the releases of seasons 1-6, no bonus content of any kind. The show does look better in HD this season than it has in the prior seasons, and the cheesy special effects are a little better and do not look as fake in HD as they did in the earlier seasons. Of course, they are all fake, but in the earlier season releases, they looked hilariously fake at times. 

Overall, the season is good, although it did reach the point at which it was getting long in the tooth. This season had a good slate of guest and recurring stars, many of whom are recognizable (especially now that some have gone on to wider popularity). Some of them include Nick Lachey (from 98-degrees), Elizabeth Dennehy, John De Lancie (who played Q on Star Trek), Charisma Carpenter (from Buffy and Angel, who appeared after she was fired from Angel for the transgression of getting pregnant by Joss Whedon, and appeared basically in a bra the entire time to show off how great she looked after having a child), Kerr Smith (from Dawson's Creek), Ian Anthony Dale (who would go on to star in the Hawaii Five-0 reboot), Oded Fehr (from The Mummy movies), Billy Zane, James Avery (uncle Phil from Fresh Prince), Billy Drago, T.J. Thyne (who would go on to star in the series Bones), Anne Dudek (who would have a major guest starring role on the series House a few years later), Corey Stoll (from House of Cards), John Hamm (from Mad Men), David Anders (from Alias), Seamus Dever (who would be a secondary character on the series Castle), the great character actress Michelle Hurd (in an episode that was a total ripoff of Buffy), Kathleen Wilhote (who had a recurring role on ER), and Glenn Morshower (from the series 24). The show did cut back on the musical appearances, with probably the biggest band appearing this season being Collective Soul who had a couple of hits in the early to mid-2000s. 

The show follows the format that made it a success in the earlier seasons, and yes, Alyssa Milano and Rose McGowan are put in skimpy outfits from time to time, although less than they were in the prior seasons. The writing is still so-so, sometimes very good, and sometimes incredibly cheesy and even cringe-worthy when Phoebe and Paige are pining for a man. The season finale does have a bit of a series finale type of feel to it, so it's likely that the writers were not sure whether the show would be renewed for a final season (which it was) when they wrote the finale. But ultimately, if you have liked the show from season 4 forward, you will probably like this season as well. 

4k-UHD/Movie Review: The Dark Tower

 

This is apparently a very loose and condensed adaptation of Stephen King's Dark Tower series of novels. The story is set partly in the real world (specifically, modern-day New York City) and partly in a world called Mid-World, an old-west-style parallel universe in which a gunslinger named Roland Deschain (played by Idris Elba) is trying to protect the titular Dark Tower from The Man in Black, Walter Padick (played by Matthew McConaughey). In the real world, a young boy named Jake Chambers (played by Tom Taylor) has visions of Roland and The Man in Black in Mid-World and finds a portal to Mid-World. The Man in Black wants to capture Jake in order to take his psychic power (called Shine) to destroy The Dark Tower. Then, a kind of cliched good versus evil story plays out both in New York and Mid-World.

For those who get the 4k set, as is usually the case, the UHD disc just has the movie and then the rest of the bonus features are on a second, regular, blu-ray disc. The A/V quality of the UHD disc is outstanding. Pretty much what I would describe as reference quality video with visuals that really pop. There are a handful of extras on the regular blu-ray disc including a gag reel, deleted scenes, a couple of featurettes about adapting the books to the movie, character profiles on Roland and The Man in Black, and trailers for other Sony movies. All totaled, the bonus features run about an hour, give or take.

The movie is good, but not great. I think it is probably better if you have not read the books because from what I have read, the movie is a very watered-down version of the story from the books. I have not read the books, but it seems like the main complaints are that the movie removes a lot of violence, which was done to get a PG-13 rating, and that the movie tells a pretty basic, non-nuanced story. Elba does a good job playing the character of Roland as a reluctant hero (not quite an anti-hero) and McConaughey does a good job as the bad guy of the movie. It is what I would classify as a decent action movie, but the story really should have been a series (even just a limited event series with 10, hour-long episodes) so that the entire story could be told and should have been done without being watered down. I think most people who are huge fans of the books will probably not like the movie adaptation. I think most people who are a fan of action movies, but who have not read the books, will probably like it more.

DVD/Movies Review: The Librarian Trilogy

 

This is a two-disc set containing the three Librarians movies, starring Noah Wyle in his first major post-ER role. Wyle stars a Flynn Carson, a perpetual student with a multitude of pretty useless degrees and no life. Flynn receives an invitation to apply for a job as the librarian at the New York Metropolitan Library. He discovers that the Librarian collects and protects magical and supernatural artifacts like Excaliber, Pandora's Box, and The Ark of the Covenant. In the first movie, The Quest for the Spear, the Spear of Destiny is stolen from the Library, and Flynn and his Guardian, Nicole Noone, (played by Sonya Wagner) have to recover it. In the second movie, Return to King Solomon's Mines, Flynn and an archeologist named Emily Davenport (played by Gabrielle Anwar) must find, and guard the secret of King Solomon's Mine. The third movie, Curse of the Judas Chalice, is set in New Orleans and has a storyline that involves vampires and their version of the Holy Grail. 

The movies are basically Indiana Jones knockoffs with even more supernatural elements than Indiana Jones, mixed with a love story. In each movie, Flynn ends up falling in love with the female lead (Wagner in the first movie, Anwar in the second, and Stana Katic in the third). None of the movies had a huge budget, so the special effects could be a bit cheesy, but I think cheesy was the vibe they were going for. 

Each of the movies has some extras including deleted scenes and some behind-the-scenes featurettes. The extras run about 15 minutes or less per movie, so none of the movies have an extensive amount of bonus content, but it is there for you.

I'd say that the movies are good, but not great. They do have strong supporting casts including Jane Curtin, Bob Newhart (both of whom reprise their roles in the spin-off TV series The Librarians), Kelly Hu, Kyle McLaughlan, Olympia Dukakis, 

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Charmed - Season 6

 

The sixth season of Charmed is really a long serial arc that continues the storyline set up at the end of season five, with the arrival of Chris (Drew Fuller) as Paige, Phoebe, and Piper's new white lighter, and Leo being promoted to Elder. The story is revealed in parts throughout the season, with a major reveal coming at about the halfway point of the season. There is still a "monster-of-the-week" procedural aspect of the show, but nearly every episode is used to advance the larger story. There are also some smaller serial story arcs during the season, one that involves Phoebe and her relationship with Jason (Eric Dane) and one involving Paige and a pair of feuding magical families that she gets in the middle of. Toward the end of the season, Holly Marie Combs' role is reduced to accommodate her real-life pregnancy. 

As has been the case for the blu-ray releases of seasons 1-5, this is a region-free import without any extras. There are captions in German and English, but there are no behind-the-scenes material, commentary tracks, or the like. 

Overall, the season is very good. The story is not given away too quickly and comes to a conclusion that could continue into season seven or be left resolved. The show again got a good slate of guest stars including Melissa George, Ivana Milicevic, Jenny McCarthy, Balthazar Getty, Kathryn Joosten, Keith Szarabajka, Marisol Nichols, Jodi Lyn O'Keefe, and Billy Drago. The musical guests this season included Smash Mouth and Ziggy Marley. Even though the season is mostly good, it was not without its faults. Dorian Gregory was again used pretty sparingly throughout the season (although he definitely had more to do than he has in the past couple of seasons) and some of the content does not hold up as well almost twenty years later. The special effects could still be very cheesy and fake looking (which is actually accentuated in HD), and the clip show, showing events from throughout the series did not include Shannen Doherty. On the other hand, they were still putting McGowan and Milano in very skimpy outfits every so often. Ultimately, if you liked the prior seasons you will probably like this season, but if the show has never done anything for you, this season will probably not change your mind about it.

4kUHD Review: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

 

Fantastic Beasts is the prequel series to the Harry Potter movies and books. If you read the original Harry Potter Books you may remember that Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was the title of one of Harry's schoolbooks and was written by the protagonist of this series of films, Newt Scamander (played by Eddie Redmayne). The story in Fantastic Beasts is set in the mid-1920s. Newt is in New York traveling with a case of magical creatures. When one of the creatures gets out, he ends up chasing it around town and in the process, his case is swapped with that of a muggle (called a no-maj in the US) named Jacob Kowalski (played by Dan Folger). Katherine Waterston plays Tina Goldstein, an Auror at the US's version of the Ministry of Magic called the Magical Congress of the United States. Tina sees part of Newt's interaction with Jacob and arrests him for breaking magical law, and as Newt, Jacob, Tina, and her sister Queenie (played by Alison Sudol) attempt to recapture the magical beasts, they are arrested because it is believed that Newt has killed a senator in a conspiracy with the dark wizard Gellert Grindewald. 

This set has two discs, a 4k UHD disc that has just the movie itself, and then the extras are included in the regular blu-ray disc. The A/V quality of the UHD disc is fantastic, and as the Harry Potter movies have always been, it is at the forefront of the most up-to-date CGI and special effects such that it is very hard to tell what is CGI and what is practical, even when you know a character is totally CGI. The extras on the regular blu-ray disc include a 15-minute making-of documentary discussing the story and creating the spinoff. Then there are a series of shorter featurettes grouped into categories called "characters", "creatures", and "design". Between the three categories, there are 18 different featurettes that range in length from around 2 minutes to just over 7 minutes. Then there are about 15 minutes of deleted scenes. 

Overall, the movie is good but much different than the Harry Potter movies. Of course, the character of Grindewald was mentioned as having a past with Dumbledore (who does not appear in this movie but is mentioned) in the Harry Potter series and will have a larger role going forward. But, this is set around adult main characters, so by definition, it is a lot different than the Potter movies. The story is well-written and it is very well-acted by not only the main cast but the supporting cast which includes Colin Farell, Ron Pearlman, and Samantha Morton. Ezra Miller also has a major role in the movie, but it is not certain how that will change given all the trouble he has been getting into in his personal life. Ultimately, I think whether you will like this movie or not is going to depend on how much you can accept that you are not seeing a Harry Potter sequel or a direct Harry Potter prequel, but a series that is also set in the Harry Potter Universe. If you can accept the latter, then you will probably like this. If not, then you probably will not.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Charmed Season 4

 

+++Warning, this spoils the major cliffhanger from the end of season three, but does not give away any major season four spoilers+++

Season four of Charmed picks up a week after the events that ended season three, with Prue and Piper being laid out by Shanx's blast. We learn that Prue died from the blast, which was, of course, a way to write Shannen Doherty out of the show. To preserve the whole concept of the Power of Three, a new, half-sister, Paige, played by Scream's Rose McGowan was revealed. Paige was the child of Prue, Phoebe, and Piper's mother Patty and her Whitelighter, Sam, who was given up for adoption as a baby. The first handful of episodes were focused on establishing Paige as a character and Paige learning about her sister's existence and the fact that she is a witch. Then, it pretty much followed the same procedural-serial storyline combination that the first few seasons had. I would say this season's storylines were more serial than they were monster-of-the-week, with major storylines about Phoebe and Cole's relationship, and Piper's emotional breakdown after losing Prue getting multi-episode arcs this season. The cast turnover did not end with Shannen Doherty leaving as Dorian Gregory was basically used as a recurring character this season (although he was still shown in the opening credits of the episodes he was in), but his character would go 3-4 episodes at a time without making an appearance.

For those who get the Blu-Ray set, it is basically a MOD set. You just get the episodes and that is it. You do have the option of a German or English language track and German or English subtitles, but there are no extras, which honestly, given that the season aired in 2001 and the blu-rays were not released until years later is not surprising. This season does have a lot of good guest stars including Daniel Dae Kim (who would later star on Lost and the Hawaii Five-0 reboot), Robert Englund (the original Freddy Kruger), Ray Wise (from Twin Peaks), Coolio, Dave Navarro, Armin Shimerman (from Buffy), and Bruce Cambell.

Overall, the beginning of the season was a bit uneven as the show transitioned from Shannen Doherty to Rose McGowen. As many are likely aware, Doherty and Milano did not get along (how much neither of them has ever said, although they both acknowledged tension as has Holly Marie Combs) and there has been speculation for years whether Doherty was fired or quit. Speculation is that it went far beyond tension and they actually hated each other, and Milano gave an ultimatum to the showrunners that either Doherty goes or she would. Milano has always denied that ever happened, but given that Doherty directed the season three finale and was gone by season four, it seems that things came to a head when Doherty was in charge. It does seem like the show did her and the character of Prue dirty by not having her appear to give her a proper sendoff. At any rate, once the character of Paige was figured out by the writers and McGowan got her footing with the character, don't think the show lost much steam. It seemed like Milano, McGowan, and Combs worked well together, although if you have seen Milano and McGowan's social media interactions, it seems that there is no love lost between those two either.

There are things about the show that would probably not be done the same now as they were back then. There was definitely still some mooning over men that would probably not be written the same way, and they were definitely putting McGowan in a ton of skimpy outfits as they had put Milano in during seasons 1-3. Of course, this was back when McGowan was hot and not identifiably crazy, so she was put in crop tops and midriff-baring outfits constantly. And, the special effects were still not great by any means, and sometimes the HD transfer makes that even more noticeable. That said, if you enjoyed the show's first few seasons (unless you only watched it because Shannen Doherty was in it), you will probably enjoy this season as well.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: The Huntsman: Winter's War

 

The Huntsman: Winter's War is partly a prequel, but mostly a sequel to the movie Snow White and the Huntsman, which basically ignores Snow White. Kristen Stewart is shown in one flash at the beginning of the movie using footage from the first movie, but after that, Snow White is not seen again. The prequel part of the movie, in the beginning, is basically an origin story for the ice queen Freya (played by Emily Blunt) who is the sister of Queen Ravenna, and Eric/The Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) and his love Sara, played by Jessica Chastain. Then, the movie jumps to a point after the events of the first movie in which Snow White has fallen ill (explaining her absence), and William (Snow White's husband) tasks Eric with retrieving the Mirror before Freya can use its power.

For those who get the blu-ray, the movie looks and sounds great in HD. Of course, there are a lot of CGI special effects that look awesome in the HD format. The disc includes two versions of the movie, the theatrical, and an extended edition that adds a little over six minutes to the movie. The additions are pretty negligible and do not change the story at all. For extras, there is a commentary track on the movie by the director, deleted scenes, and a gag reel, that each clocks in just under 10 minutes, and then a five-part making-of documentary that runs about a half-hour in total.

Overall, the movie is good, but because of Stewart essentially being fired, it is really disconnected from the first movie. Chastain and Blunt do step into their roles well and Charlize Theron is again awesome as Ravenna. Hemsworth does a good job in the leading role and thus Snow White's absence is not felt as much as I thought it would be when it was announced the movie would be made without her.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Charmed: Season Three

 

The third season of Charmed was one that put the series in flux. It would serve as a transitional season for the show, with a huge cliffhanger that would allow for major cast turnover. After all this time most people likely know how it played out, but I will not spoil anything here.

Season three mostly follows the freak-of-the-week format (much like the series Smallville was doing) but it did start to interweave larger story arcs. The two big ones this season involved Piper and Leo's relationship, and the second one involved a relationship between Phoebe and the new District Attorney, played by Julian McMahon, who is more than he appears to be. There are a couple of really good time jump shows, one that sends the women back into Salem at the time of the witch trials, and one that is a flashback episode that included Finola Hughes and Jennifer Rhodes (both of whom make more than one appearance this season).

For those who get the blu-ray set, it is basically an MOD set. There are no extras, but there are captions in both German and English. So, it is very, very, bare bones. The Blu-Ray transfer is okay, but it did not get what you would call a high-quality HD upgrade. Although, since these episodes were filmed in 2001, and the show had a bigger budget than it did the first couple of seasons, the CGI special effects did look a bit better. The show did get a good slate of recognizable guest stars (and included the occasional early 2000s musical guest and/or songs in the show). Some of the guests this season included Harry Groener (who played the Mayor in the best season of Buffy), Rainn Wilson (from The Office), Ron Pearlman, Kevin Weismann (from Alias), Dana Ashbrook (from Twin Peaks), Ashley Tisdale, and a handful of WCW wrestlers, who appeared in a pretty cheesy episode. The musical guests included The Coors, Orgy, and The Barenaked Ladies.

Overall, the season is good. It does have some weak points, certainly, and some of the things that they wrote into the show (like the go be with your man when your sister is in danger stuff) would probably not be done the same way today. And, I am not sure they would get away with putting Alyssa Milano and Shannen Doherty in skimpy cleavage-baring tops in every single episode as they did back then. I think some things about the show hold up well, but some things most assuredly do not. This was also the season where the feud between Milano and Doherty came to a head. While they have both addressed it vaguely and acknowledged it was a thing, it did not seem to actually boil over into their on-camera work together. The one big complaint that I had about the season is that the character of Daryl was rarely given anything important to do this season, and he was an also-ran character for a big part of the season. Other than that, I think that the writers did a pretty good job giving the other characters storylines with substance. The acting was always good, even when the actors did not have great material to work with, and the show and the actors could switch from comedy to drama within a couple of scenes. While I do not think it was as good a show as Buffy, the other girl-power-empowered supernatural-themed show of the time, I do think it was worth watching.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies (Extended Edition)

 

The Battle of the Five Armies is the third film in the Hobbit trilogy of movies that really has little to do with the story in the book (which was told almost completely in the first two movies). This movie pits Humans, Dwarves, Elves, Orcs, and Wolves against each other, all of whom are trying to claim the Arkenstone. Plus, you have Smaug destroying everything in sight. It picks up directly after the events of the second movie with Smaug attacking Laketown. Gandalf is still imprisoned by Sauron as Galadriel (played by the returning Cate Blanchett) and Elrond (played by the returning Hugo Weaving) attempt to free him. Basically, the movie is a series of long battle sequences, with the final battle being the longest. The extended edition of the movie clocks in at 164 minutes, adding about 20 minutes to the theatrical version. While there are some slight pauses between the action sequences, almost all of the additional material is added to the different battles and is a bit more gory/violent than what was allowed in the theatrical version.

For those who get the blu-ray, the A/V quality is top-notch, as good or better than the Lord of the Rings movies. Most of the CGI is seamless with the practical effects, and it sounds great, especially if you have a good sound system. As with the extended edition of the other movies, there are a ton of extras. Those include a commentary track on the movie by Peter Jackson and his co-writer Philippa Boyens. Then there is part three of the Home to Middle-Earth segments, about filming in New Zealand. The crown jewel of the bonus content are the appendices (parts 11 and 12). Each of them has over four hours (each) of making-of and behind-the-scenes material that goes through pretty much the entire process of making the movie.

Overall, this is good, but like the other extended editions is really only for hardcore fans (or people who really like watching the bonus content). If you are a casual fan of the movies and you don't care about the blu-ray extras you are going to be paying a lot more for something that is not really going to interest you all that much. It is a good capstone to Peter Jackson's series of movies, and while I am one who thinks that the story of the Hobbit could have easily been told in two shorter movies, this is still worth watching.

Book Review: Midnight Sun

 

Chances are, most people are aware of the story told in the Twilight series, either through reading the books, seeing the movies, or both. This is basically a remastered version of the original novel, told from the perspective of Edward instead of Bella. It tells the same overall story but gives insights into things that were not shown or told in the original book because everything was told from Bella's point of view and what she was experiencing. So, we get much more interaction between Edward and the other members of the Cullen family and see how he was trying to deal with his feelings for her, and hers for him.

Certainly, some of the issues with the original books still remain. This is largely a young adult love story and so can get sappy and schlocky in parts. The author's writing does get panned quite a bit, which is mostly unfair. No, she is not Shakespeare, but she does not try to be or even pretend to be. She is telling a contemporary (at least as of the early 2000s) teenage love story set in a world of vampires. Yes, some of the choices she makes, like the vampires sparkling in direct sunlight as opposed to being burned to a crisp and dying are kind of silly, but I think that was because she was trying to do something unique.

Overall, whether you loved, hated, or were lukewarm to the original novel you will probably feel the same way about this. It is not likely to change your mind either way. The novel is basically to set up the larger story and develop the characters (although it does tell its own self-contained storyline as well). It will be interesting to see if she does the same thing with the other novels, but overall I think this allowed for more of the story to be fleshed out and was able to focus on different characters than the original novel did.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Game of Thrones: Season 5

 

+++Warning, this contains spoilers from the prior season, but no major season five spiolers+++

The fifth season of GoT was adapted from parts of three different novels in the Song of Ice and Fire series, namely, A Feast for Crows, A Dance with Dragons, and a Storm of Swords. Of course, the show started catching up with the books (as George R.R. Martin is a notoriously slow writer) and the producers and writers of the show were doing their best to get as much material from the books before they would have to essentially make the rest of the story up with just a rough outline from Martin. This season sees a shift in many of the story arcs of the various characters. After the deaths of Joffrey and Tywin (finally) Varys and Tyrion flee Westeros to Meereen to meet Daenerys, whom Varys believes may be worthy of the Iron Throne. Jon is torn between an offer from Stannis and his duty to the Night's Watch, with the ever-increasing threat of the White Walkers looming, and Sansa goes from one bad situation to another. Cersei is basically ruling as a transition from Joffrey to Tommen, who is now set to marry Margaery Tyrell, which does not exactly thrill Cersei. Jaime and Bronn travel to Dorne to bring Myrcella back to King's Landing and have to deal with a revenge-seeking Ellaria. Arya sails to Braavos to attempt to cash in on her mystical coin to learn from Jaqen H'ghar. The season ends on numerous cliffhangers that leave the fate of nearly every single main character in some kind of doubt and/or jeopardy.

For those who get the blu-ray set, the A/V quality is again top-notch. As far as extras go, as has been the case with the prior seasons, each episode has an in-episode guide that can be played, a recap at the beginning of the episodes, and a preview at the end. There are twelve different commentary tracks. Every episode except episode seven gets at least one commentary track with various members of the cast along with the director and/or writer of the episode. Episodes eight and nine each have multiple commentary tracks (three, and two respectively). Then there are a series of behind-the-scenes and making-of featurettes that range in length from just under eight minutes to just under thirty minutes. There are also some animated shorts that feature voice work by the actors in character, then there is an animated Dance With Dragons animated feature that outlines the Targaryen civil war, and finally about eight minutes of deleted scenes. So, there are again a ton of extras if you like going through them, but like in the prior season releases, to go through everything you will have to watch each episode multiple times, so it may be helpful to pick and choose what you watch.

Overall, the season is very good. The storyline advances well, and like in prior seasons no character is safe from the possibility of being killed off, which makes for a lot of edge-of-your-seat suspense. It is very violent and has a lot of sex and nudity in it, so it is most definitely not a family-friendly show (or something that someone that is easily offended would go for). That said, it is very well acted and mostly well-written. Of course, because it is an adaptation of extremely long books, there are some storylines in the books (and many characters) that never appear in the series. This season, I would say the standouts among the cast are Iwan Rheon who plays Ramsay Bolton, Sophie Turner whose character arc is greatly expanded this season, and Maisie Williams. That said, the entire cast nails all of their characters and do an extremely good job. So, if you have been a fan of the first four seasons, you will very likely enjoy the fifth season. If you have not yet seen the series, you definitely have to start at episode one and watch all the way through, otherwise, almost nothing will make sense if you jump into the series over halfway through.