Category Archives: TV Tomb

Alien Abduction: Incident in Lake County (1998)

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For an early specimen of the found footage sub-genre, “Alien Abduction” is surprisingly solid. It’s cheaply made, confined to one setting, and the acting is dodgy, but its execution is creepy and many moments reflect what would become common imagery in future found footage movies like “Blair Witch” and “Cloverfield.” Back before the internet, viral videos trickled in to underground collectors’ circles and even networks that sought out to convince audiences of their realism. “Alien Abduction” is a film desperately trying to convince audiences it’s a real document, and back in 1998, you’d believe it was a groundbreaking chronicle of a family facing aliens.

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How to Build a Better Boy (2014)

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Disney seems to be having a good time mining the eighties lately with their original movies. First we had “Zapped!” which took the title from the raunchy eighties comedy along with a variation of the plot from “Love Potion No. 9,” while “How to…” is really just “Weird Science 3.0.” Except this time its PG rated, and much more based around feminism than misogyny. And rather than building on the entire “Frankenstein” idea, the writers set their sights on the US government surveillance and their plans to build a top secret robot that can infiltrate any setting.

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: “The Invasion” Episode Review

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Truth be told, I’m kind of glad that Michael Bay’s horrific TMNT movie did so well, because that means Nickelodeon will continue their superior animated series. And thank goodness for that because the show hasn’t been this great since it began. And “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” is usually an excellent show. But their season two finale was top notch. It was exciting, emotional, and absolutely surprising. If you’re still wounded by Michael Bay’s god awful treatment of this property, then go check out the Nickelodeon revival from the beginning. This is the show fans deserve. In either case, “The Invasion” is where it all comes full circle. Lives are put on the line and there’s a very excellent series of nods to the original film.

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The PC Thug: The End of Saturday Morning Cartoons

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Back in 1988, I fondly remember waking up very early on a Saturday to watch cartoons, and would officially pack up and prepare for the day the minute twelve in the afternoon reared it head ushering local sports.

2014 marked the end of many traditions that pop culture fans hold near and dear to their heart. One of the most surprising announcements was the official heralding of death of the tradition we all knew and love: Saturday Morning cartoons. In September 2014, the CW Network’s parent company Warner Bros. officially ended their run of morning long schedules of animated series, and reverted to cheaper educational programming in a time slot that barely filled three hours.  These days if you turn on the CW on a Saturday morning, you’ll likely find a ton of infomercials sandwiched between some vaguely family based animal shows.

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“The Flash” Season One, Episode One: City of Heroes Review

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It’s great to see DC and Warner bros. finally giving The Flash his due after so many years in limbo. “The Flash” has always been a wonderful character from the DC universe that was way too science fiction based to ever become a respectable series or movie, so for years fans had nothing. Surely John Wesley Shippe’s “The Flash” was a solid adaptation, but beyond that, it was merely table scraps. “The Flash” fully realizes what an amazing character the titular speedster is and completely sets up nothing but storylines and sub-plots in the pilot, while also telling a great origin tale of how a scientist became the fastest man alive.

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Our Top Five “Spaced” Episodes

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If you haven’t seen “Spaced,” the odds are you’re missing out on the final puzzle that will cement you as a fan of Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, or Edgar Wright. The UK series was a massive hit for two seasons, and fifteen years later it still has a major following today. Many of the series’ stars went on to huge things in America and their home countries, including Simon Pegg, series director Edgar Wright, Nick Frost, and Jessica Hynes.

Fifteen years later, the show is still fresh, hilarious, and worth the hooplah it garnered when it finally arrived to the US a few years ago. It’s never too late to explore “Spaced,” so here are five essential episodes you should look out for while coasting through its fourteen episode run.

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“Gotham” Season One, Episode One: Pilot Review

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(Spoilers Abound)

“Gotham” can be really goofy; almost “Smallville” goofy. And it seems to be revising the Batman lore again for a new audience that may not be familiar with the Batman mythology. The first twenty minutes of the pilot are brutally cheesy with a lot of clunky exposition, plays on morality, corruption, and immense focus on how hard boiled Harvey Bullock and James Gordon are. They’re tough men that have seen the worst life can offer, and dagnabit, they’re at odds like Murtaugh and Riggs from “Lethal Weapon” when we first see them. Well really they’re kind of an after thought. The focus of the first five minutes of the premiere is on a prepubescent street thief who walks Gotham, stealing to survive, and galloping along fire escapes. Almost like a cat of some kind. Get it, yet?

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