Television Reviews Archives | Page 4 Of 42

The Quest in Netflix’s Avatar The Last Airbender Means Appeasing All the Fans Than Just Bring in New Ones

There’s lots to like and not like in this live-action adaptation of Avatar The Last Airbender. For the most part, the essentials elements are laid out to make this story work.

Light spoiler alert

Although franchise creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino departed the Netflix project to bring Avatar The Last Airbender to a live-action format early during development, I’m sure not every fan will care. What’s presented has everything one expects and wants to go yip-yip on. The humour is downplayed and the world looks fantastic. Most of the special effects work and the wuxia elements added in are enough to get fans excited whenever Aang (Gordon Cormier) goes full on Avatar mode!

The great thing about this version is that it’s not a carbon copy of the original. It takes enough from the cartoon and just how it all begins is unexpected! By offering more backstory helps frame what’s to come, and for those who memorised the series, the added elements give this take a lot more weight. Fire Lord Ozai’s (Daniel Dae Kim) motivations were never made fully clear, and what’s offered here sets him up as that cruel warlord who feels uniting the world under his vision is the future.

Overall, the performances are excellent. Although Gordon Cormier is not as spunky as his cartoon counterpart, to translate that aspect of Aang’s personality would’ve been overkill. Kiawentiio really nails it as Kitara, a soon-to-be waterbender who wants to protect her village. I get the feeling she’ll be the next Zendaya. And Ian Ousley presents us his take on who Sokka is. As for how much of a ladies’ man he’ll become, what’s teased at here needs more development!

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When DreamWorks Fright Krewe Evokes that Feeling From Rockwell’s Somebody’s Watching Me

Everything you want to know about Vodon’s best heroes but were afraid to ask is answered in Eli Roth’s take on Seint Seiya with Fright Krewe!

Coming Soon to YTV (Canada) and available to stream on Hulu

In addition to that music video, I can’t help but be reminded of Richard A. Hamilton’s graphic novel Fearbook Club after rewatching DreamWorks Fright Krewe for the umteenth time. That’s mostly because the image of kids tackling nasty urban legends around New Orleans is a concept I really dig. And when the lore is done right, I’m returning to it often just to see what else I can pick up on when considering the Vodun religion is quite rich in its imagery and number of loas said to exist!

Creators Eli Roth and James Frey pitched a solid idea which includes explaining the legends and lore which exist around this city. But what’s more important is in how the teens, this series main protagonists, should learn to get along. When there’s loup garous, vampires, ghosts, and other sordid creatures prowling about, these kids better get their act together! While we don’t see much about their supernatural war with humanity, and that’s because peace was established long ago. But as for their pact with certain individuals from this mortal world, it’s tumultuous at best.

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What’s Believable about The UnBelievable With Dan Aykroyd is That Some Segments are Verifiable Truths!

Thankfully the later episodes of The UnBelievable With Dan Aykroyd are better and are based on lesser known aspects dating back to things the military or science would rather people forget.

Available on History Channel,
Amazon Prime and YouTube

As much as I love a certain paranormal enthusiast, I think he’s pining for the fjords by agreeing to be the host of The UnBelievable with Dan Aykroyd. This latest History Channel offering is produced by Six West Media and Wonderland West is simply copying from William Shatner’s The UnXplained, and when we’re dealing with some rather semi inspired titles to entice folks to watch, I was still curious.

Thankfully, what this on screen and off-screen Ghostbuster shows is in just how passionate he is about the subject. He acknowledges his family’s lifelong interest in the spiritual world (I.e. ghosts) in the first episode, “Strange Locations,” that’s dedicated to all things spooky. From a book to being at the forefront of the spiritualist movement in Canada, the gambit is well covered. Besides introducing a few familiar locales that are cursed, there are others not as often talked about.

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That 90s Christmas Special! A Top Five List of Cartoons To Tickle Your Funny Bone

From films to television, we offer a list of our favourite animated 90s Christmas Specials and films!

A Pinky and the Brain Christmas - 90s Christmas Special Before the 21st century, not many animated yuletide themed works were made. Even in the theatrical front, there was lots of live-action material, but when all I craved were cartoons, there just wasn’t many to find at all. Sure there was Frosty Returns, and the obligatory Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie, but they weren’t memorable. All I recall is that there were more televised 90s Christmas Specials than cinema scale. When I look back with the knowledge I have know, maybe the studios were waiting to hear back from what a new generation of kids said they liked.

Also, there’s the chance that all those fond cartoons from the 60s to 80s were getting sunsetted. As interest waned, and just what got played while the television station would have to change to keep with the time.

What I offer is a look at those ‘toons that were personal to me. And although The Nightmare Before Christmas (Amazon Link) is alone, perhaps there’s an obscure international flick to give Jack company! This work deserves to be a special entry.

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Diving Into Why Farscape, The Complete Series (25th Anniverary) Release Matters!

If you’re a fan like me waiting for a Blu-ray release of Farscape: The Complete Series that includes The Peacekeeper Wars as part of the package, this edition is it!

Farscape, The Complete Series - 25th Anniversary Edition — **Available to purchase on Amazon USA**

Shout! Factory is celebrating a milestone year of a beloved 1999-2003 sci-fi epic with an updated release which includes a brand-new featurette! Although there are varying options which edition of Farscape, The Complete Series (25th Anniversary) is best to acquire, the difference lies in how much swag one wants!

What I received for evaluation is the basic one. I didn’t really need the prism stickers, poster from industry artist Joe Corroney, and the enamel pins from Gutter Garbs (link). They would’ve been nice, but honestly I’m all out of wall space to show off my love for this show! Thankfully there’s a mid-priced set too (link). But when all I want is to revisit this world created by Rockne S. O’Bannon again, and the timing of this release couldn’t be any better!

Also, prior editions didn’t include “The Peacekeeper Wars” as part of the set. I’m glad this distributor corrected the oversight, and it’s pleasant to show this collection off on my shelf. When I’m in the mood to binge, I can watch a disc or two per day.

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Everything is Back with The Star Beast in the First Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Special!

Everything fans have been wanting to see in Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Special is here, and The Star Beast certainly delivers fun quips and chuckles along the way!

BBC’s Doctor Who is 60-years old, and honestly, they should spend part of their increased budget to have David Tennant back on some semi-permanent basis. He’s a tough act to follow and although this actor has nothing but praise for Ncuti Gatwa, who will take over the role after these specials, I just want him! When “The Star Beast” is part one of a three-story arc, thankfully that means there’ll be a month of this actor doing what he does best–to play Sherlock the only way he best knows how!