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Guilty Pleasure – Teen Wolf

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  • Title: Teen Wolf
  • IMDb: link

Teen Wolf Blu-ray reviewAlthough it’s hard by any objective standard to classify 1985’s Teen Wolf as a “good movie,” the star vehicle for a young Michael J. Fox written by Jeph Loeb and Matthew Weisman is undeniably entertaining.

The story centers around average high school student Scott Howard (Fox) who discovers he’s a werewolf. Rather than hiding this fact, which gives him speed, agility, and power for the first time, Scott brings out the wolf on the basketball court making the sorry team instantly better, and turning himself into a celebrity – something his best friend Stiles (Jerry Levine) is only too happy to exploit for profit.

If you remove the werewolf, Teen Wolf is a pretty generic high school film. We get a good kid, the hot girl he lusts for (Lorie Griffin), her evil boyfriend (Mark Arnold), and the girl (Susan Ursitti) who likes him. Between scenes of the werewolf surfing on top of a van and playing basketball, there’s also Scott learning a life lesson about accepting himself for who he is.

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Game of Thrones – The Complete Third Season

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  • Title: Game of Thrones – The Complete Third Season
  • wiki: link

Game of Thrones - The Complete Third Season DVD reviewAlthough events continue to meander through far too many separate storylines, Season Three of Game of Thrones begins pairing off some of our characters in unexpected ways. Together on the road, Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie) and Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) are more interesting than either have been separately. In much the same way, Arya (Maisie Williams) and the Hound (Rory McCann) make for amusing traveling companions.

In something which is beginning to become a pattern for the show, the season leaves its big event for near the end of the year. Season Three gives us the memorable Red Wedding in which we say farewell to some of the glut of supporting characters (although not necessarily all the right ones). And Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) begins to grow her army and legend. She gets some memorable moments, but sadly is destined to become mired in the show’s pacing and her journey home to reclaim her thrown will get put on hold for a good long while. Disconnected from all other threads, it seems obvious to everyone but the show’s writers that she’s the series’ standout character.

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The Circle

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  • Title: The Circle
  • IMDb: link

The Circle Blu-ray reviewThere’s an interesting premise to this adaptation of the Dave Eggers novel about a woman forced to redefine concepts like privacy and community after being hired by one of the world’s largest technology companies. The Circle (think Apple meets Facebook, but more cult-ish) provides Mae (Emma Watson) with all she’s every wanted, including healthcare for her ailing father (Bill Paxton). However, the level of intrusiveness the company not only engages in but celebrates opens the door to some big questions (which, unfortunately, the film doesn’t really do much to explore).

It would have been very easy for The Circle to be a thriller about the invasion of technology and destruction of privacy, an evil corporation out to do bad things with data, and a world seeming unaware at what they are giving up. The film, however, has bigger aspirations than that, bringing some intriguing questions to the forefront while constantly fighting off the tendency to fall into easy cliche.

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Ghost in the Shell

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  • Title: Ghost in the Shell
  • IMDb: link

Ghost in the Shell Blu-ray reviewBased on the manga series of the same name, the live-action Hollywood Ghost in the Shell stars Scarlett Johansson (whose casting caused fan backlash). In a world where people are enhanced with cybornetic implants, Major is the first police officer whose brain (or ghost) is housed within the shell of the most advanced robot. While working for the corporation which built her, Major begins to learn disturbing secrets about them and herself that have little to do with keeping the peace. And, if any of this sounds familiar, it’s pretty much the plot of Robocop (without the humor).

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Game of Thrones – The Complete Second Season

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  • Title: Game of Thrones – The Complete Second Season
  • wiki: link

Game of Thrones - The Complete Second SeasonGiven the ending of Season One in which Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) is literally reborn in fire while returning dragons to the world, I had high hopes for Season Two of Game of Thrones to raise its game. Sadly, this isn’t the case. Daenerys has become my favorite character, but due to circumstances beyond her control mean she spends nearly all of the show’s Second Season begging and whining (“Where are my dragons!”). Thankfully, by the end of the season, she seems to throw off her belligerent tantrums and take another step forward in her goal.

It’s the season’s penultimate episode which is the most memorable. While previously skirting around the larger battles around control for the Seven Kingdoms, the attack on King’s Landing provides the most action we’ve seen in the series so far. The episode also offers a big hero moment for Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage). I can’t say the same for the boring Stannis Baratheon (Stephen Dillane) whose goal to lay siege to the city ends in disaster thanks to Tyrion’s cunning and bravery.

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