I’d like to tell you that “CJ7” is Stephen Chow’s answer to “E.T.” but as we all have come to know, Chow would never be about providing ordinary kids entertainment that we’ve seen before. “CJ7” may have the same formula when you get down to it, but Chow gives his own spin on it and it works. It’s a healthy dose of menace, adult edge, and over the top fantasy that has become a dead art in family films and director Chow takes every chance to flex those elements with his own take on the boy meets alien tale. On the flipside, Chow also tries to tell a genuinely emotional tale about a poor down on their luck and father and son struggling to get by living in a junk yard and eating day old food, while character Dickey’s dad always tries to teach him about life and how there are simply no short cuts. Especially when you’re poor.
Tag Archives: Science Fiction
DC Superheroes: The Filmation Adventures (DVD)
After many years without an official release, Filmation’s adaptation of DC’s greatest superheroes is finally on DVD with a pristine two disc edition featuring some of the most entertaining adventures of DC’s top tier and second tier characters. Primarily consisting of episodes from the Superman/Aquaman Hour, “DC Superheroes” is broken down in to numerous segment clusters that are comprised of episodes spotlighting the likes of The Atom, The Flash, Green Lantern, the Teen Titans and Hawkman, sadly with Superman only a glaring footnote in the compilation.
Our Favorite "Star Wars" Characters of All Time
In honor of the upcoming “Clone Wars,” on August 15th, a movie we’re actually looking forward to we’re ashamed to admit, we’ve decided to think inside the box for a while. I mean, we just admitted we want to see “Clone Wars,” we think we should let you know where we stand as a Star Wars geeks, right? There’s really not much more damage George Lucas can inflict on his universe, after all. And animation is cost effective, a no lose medium. and there’s a ninety nine percent chance voice actors could do a better job than Hayden Christensen. Hell, a log can.
Whether we like it or not “The Clone Wars” is coming, not to mention the animated series, so we figured we’d just list our top ten Star Wars characters and have some fun with this impending release.
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles – The Complete First Season (2008) (DVD)
Thank goodness for the writer’s strike, because let’s be honest here: Were it not for 80 percent of the series on primetime television going off the air thanks to a bunch of out of work writers, “The Sarah Connor Chronicles” wouldn’t have stood a chance in the ratings. I mean, come on, let’s look at the ingredients: It’s a serialized version of two very popular movies, the third of which has been lambasted by fans worldwide. It stars a barely memorable actor from “Heroes” as young John Connor, a cult actress from a cancelled television series as a cyborg sent to protect him, and an ad campaign that revolves around Lena Headey, a woman who is only popular with fan boys. Not to mention “The Sarah Connor Chronicles” completely forgets the horrific third installment of “The Terminator” series while also leaving a trail of continuity problems and plot holes in its wake.
Dark City (1998) (Director's Cut DVD)
Let’s be honest kiddies, “Dark City” was “The Matrix” before “The Matrix” was ever in the pop culture lexicon, and Alex Proyas simply gets zero credit for ever bringing this concept to the forefront with his own Neo set amidst an unreal world where time is an illusion, and the thirties are ever lasting. One of the most underrated and under credited science fiction films of all time proved that Alex Proyas wasn’t simply a one trick pony directing “The Crow.” Filled with a beautiful view of a city on the borderline of illusion and pure nightmares, “Dark City” is a world that really may not be all that we see it for. The characters in this world are all living in a gritty, dank, and dreary series of landscapes that engulf one another in to an abyss where the puppet masters named The Strangers drift in the darkness preparing to change the landscape at a moments notice.
Space Angel Collection One (DVD)
Syncro-Vox is defined as being an animated still or still picture that is given motion through the lips by an actor whose lips are voicing the character and providing the motion of the lips. If you’ve ever seen “Conan O’Brien” or the opening of “Spongebob” then you know what Syncro-Vox is, and it’s an obsolete method used in the rather creaky science fiction animated series called “Space Angel.”
Much like the animated series “Speed Racer’s” propensity for barely moving the characters at all while talking, Syncro-Vox was used as a form of saving money for the animated team, which is made very obvious when you see what “Space Angel” has to offer.
The Dark Knight (2008)
When I tell you that “The Dark Knight” is an incredible sequel, read the words carefully. “The Dark Knight” is Christopher Nolan’s ace film taking the throne as quite possibly one of the best superhero movies ever made. Is it a masterpiece of modern filmmaking? Not really. Is it an incredible example of comic book adaptation that transforms in to a genuinely epic story? Why certainly. Bringing about shades of “LA Confidential” with a dash of the classic mobster movies, Christopher Nolan’s follow up to “Batman Begins” is a brutal and exhausting gangster epic that brings to the forefront a slew of complex and intricate sub-plots that question how far we’re willing to go to maintain law and order, how much violence changes us, and if the peace keepers are really any different from the law breakers and murderers.