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Sinbad – The Complete Series

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  • Title: Sinbad
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Sinbad - The Complete SeriesCreated by British Broadcasting’s Sky1 in an attempt to sell the character of Sinbad as a cool new family adventure, Sinbad lasted only a single season. The focus of the twelve episodes was the journey of Sinbad (Elliot Knight) from cursed small time thief into high seas adventurer with a motley crew of friends at his command (Marama Corlett, Elliot Cowan, Dimitri Leonidas, Estella Daniels, Junix Inocian) while also fleeing from the witch Taryn (Orla Brady) and Lord Akbari (Naveen Andrews) who blamed the thief for the death of his son.

Over the course of the season Sinbad and his friends would battle witches, secret sects, various monsters, Sirens, Death itself, water spirits, and even get lost for a time in an otherworldly gambling den.

The production of the show often didn’t  measure up to the vision of the scripts (several episodes looked hastily scraped together most notably “Queen of the Water Thieves“).

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Elementary – Season One

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  • Title: Elementary – The Complete First Season
  • wiki: link

Elementary - Season One

As a fan of the BBC’s Sherlock, I was more than a little skeptical to learn CBS had picked up their own show for a modern day retelling of the adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller). Set in New York, rather than London, the show broke with convention early and often starting with the decision to cast Lucy Liu as Joan Watson. Far more prolific in terms of the number of episodes, creator Robert Doherty gives Sherlock a run for its money in this smart, and far different, adaptation of the world’s greatest detective.

Recently released from rehab, we meet Sherlock Holmes for the first time through the eyes of former surgeon turned sober companion who we learn was hired by Holmes’ absentee father to help transition the former heroin addict to a sober life. For the first several episodes Watson’s main role is to keep Holmes on the straight and narrow, but her interest (and insight) into Holmes’ work soon begin to transition Miss Watson into the role of Holmes’ apprentice and partner as the show’s First Season unfolds.

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Doctor Who – The Key to Time

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  • Title: Doctor Who – The Key to Time
  • Wikipedia: link

Doctor Who - The Key to TimeIn honor of the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who we continue to look back at some old episodes of the series. While preparing a vacation for himself and K-9, The Doctor (Tom Baker) is approached by the White Guardian (Cyril Luckham), the physical representation of order in the universe, who requests the Time Lord’s help in recovering the six pieces of the Key to Time (a cube that maintains the equilibrium of time itself). Split into six segments and hidden around the universe, the Guardian tasks The Doctor with recovering each piece of the cube while warning to watch out for the Black Guardian who wants the cube for his own nefarious purposes.

To assist The Doctor in his quest the White Guardian gives The Time Lord a device to track the location of each segment as well as the arrogant Romana (Mary Tamm), a capbable but inexperienced Time Lord. Over six separate serials the two Time Lords and K-9 search for each disguised piece of the fractured Key to Time.

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Mud

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  • Title: Mud
  • IMDB: link

MudWhen two teenager boys in the Arkansas bayou discover a hermit named Mud (Matthew McConaughey) living in a boat stuck high in a tree after a recent flood it’s an encounter that will forever change all three of their lives. As a coming of age story, at its best Mud reminds you of Great Expectations or To Kill A Mockingbird as Ellis (Tye Sheridan) and Neckbone (Jacob Lofland) get drawn into Mud’s world and learn hard lessons of life and love.

The themes of Mud keep recurring (perhaps a tad too neatly) as Mud’s troubled relationship with his ex Juniper (Reese Witherspoon) is mirrored with Ellis’ own early experiences with love and the impending divorce of his parents (Michael Shannon, Sarah Paulson) that threatens to destroy his home. Much of the plot deals with an old enemy (Joe Don Baker) of Mud out for revenge, but the real focus of the movie isn’t on the tension-building search for convict but on how Ellis and Mud’s experiences both change how they view the world and women.

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Guilty Pleasure – Rhinestone

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  • Title: Rhinestone
  • IMDB: link

RhinestoneLooking back at Sylvester Stallone‘s long (and checkered) film career it’s hard not to argue that 1984’s Rhinestone is perhaps the most ridiculous premise the actor ever signed-on for (which you consider movies like Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot, Lock-Up, and The Specialist is really saying something). Stallone stars as a New York cabbie who country star Jake Farris (Dolly Parton) bets her sleazy manager (Ron Leibman) she can turn into a country star in two weeks. If she wins Freddie agrees to cancel her contract, but if she looses she is looking at five more years working for the sleazeball on stage… and in his bedroom.

A basic fish-out-of-water story, Jake takes the musically inept Nick back home to Tennessee for a two-week crash course on country music where the two bicker and, you guessed it, eventually fall for each other. Writer Phil Alden Robinson would go on to pen Field of Dreams, Sneakers, and All of Me. Rhinestone is far from his best work but director Bob Clark does have the luxury of two charming stars to help sell the uninspired premise.

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