Planes: Fire & Rescue

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Planes: Fire & Rescue
  • IMDB: link

Planes: Fire & RescueLast year’s Cars spin-off starring Dane Cook as a cropduster with dreams of becoming a world-class racer came and went without much fanfare. Made by Disney rather than Pixar, Planes certainly had the feel of far too many of Disney’s straight-to-video sequels (despite the movie actually getting a theatrical release). I found the first film to be more than a little clunky, and certainly the weakest of any of the movies set in the Cars universe, but it still had enough charm and beautiful animation to keep my interest. Planes‘ sequel feels much the same with some uneven writing and cheap fart jokes. However, along with its impressive look, the sequel does celebrate the service of firefighters and offer a nice lesson for its target audience.

Planes: Fire & Rescue returns Cook as cropduster turned world-famous racer Dusty Crophopper whose career is put in jeopardy thanks to nonrepairable damage to the plane’s gearbox. In an attempt to help out an old friend, and keep the local airstrip open, Dusty signs up to train as with a fire and rescue team hoping to become certified as a firefighter.

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Perception – Eternity

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Perception – Eternity
  • wiki: link

Perception - Eternity

While being forced to take in his father (Peter Coyote), who was already difficult to live with before his onset of Alzheimer’s, Daniel Pierce (Eric McCormack) is brought in by Kate Moretti (Rachael Leigh Cook) on a locked room mystery involving a neuroscientist (Paul Cassell) who was murdered inside his own safe room. Leaving Lewicki (Arjay Smith) to deal with a father he never could, Pierce dives head first into a case that will test his distrust of technology and force him to reevaluate just how big a problem his father’s mental illness has become (and not just the “humorous” moments like walking around the house naked).

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1984 – The Last Starfighter

/ / Home Video
  • Title: The Last Starfighter
  • IMDb: link

The Last Starfighter

Released 30 years ago, The Last Starfighter is a classic tale of wish fulfillment when a poor trailer park kid finds himself in a world beyond his wildest imagination. Recruited through the use of a video game, Alex Rogan (Lance Guest) is tapped to join the Star League and defend the frontier against Xur (Norman Snow) and the Ko-Dan armada. After an impromptu space trip courtesy of an unscrupulous recruitment officer (Robert Preston), Alex finds himself in deep space where the world of his video game is played out in front of his eyes.

Alex’s refusal to fight saves him the fate of the rest of the Starfighter recruits who are killed in a sneak attack by Xur’s forces. This leaves Alex alone as the last Starfighter pilot and the only one between Xur’s conquest of the galaxy. Casting Catherine Mary Stewart as the girlfriend back home, having her own misadventures with an android left in his place, and Dan O’Herlihy as Alex’s co-pilot and friend Grig, the movie offers a twist on the basic hero’s journey with humor, drama, some early computer effects (which still look pretty damn good 30 years later), and a love story which will eventually lead Alex back home after finally finding his place in the universe.

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Justice League United #3

/ / Comics

Justice League United #3The latest issue of Justice League United finds the team on Rann where they must not only save the young child from being corrupted into something true monstrous by Byth but also fix a damaged Zeta-Beam which threatens the lives of thousands. Although Martian Manhunter is able to reason with the child, Byth manages to escape capture and one member of the team will sacrifice himself to stop the Zeta Beam from destroying the city.

Much like the issues which have preceding it, Justice League United #3 works best when playing with the relationships of the new team – particularly the bickering between Animal Man and Green Arrow. The crazy alien space baby storyline hasn’t been as effective but that part of the tale seems to be concluded here.

The death of a major character seems a bit odd, especially as the title hadn’t even had time to properly work Hawkman into the group dymnamic (as nearly all of his storyline was separate from that of the League). I expect him to miraculously return next month (like his severed arm did earlier in the series). Worth a look.

[DC, $3.99]

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Pretty Little Liars – Run, Ali, Run

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Pretty Little Liars – Run, Ali, Run
  • wiki: link

Pretty Little Liars - Run, Ali, Run

The destruction of Toby‘s (Keegan Allen) childhood home and the return of A leaves the Liars scrambling for answers. Picking up the pieces of the show’s 100th episode, Alison (Sasha Pieterse) plans to leave Rosewood and Hanna (Ashley Benson) is inclined to help her (although it has more to do with Hanna’s uneasiness to what Alison’s return has done to her personality than for her friend’s safety). Getting wind of their plans, Emily (Shay Mitchell) steps in to stop Alison slinking back in the shadows at the opportune time to rescue her friend and stop A, or one of their enemy’s minions, from choking the life out of Ali in her own home.

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