Chuck versus the Season Five preview

/ / TV News 
  • Title: Chuck
  • tv.com: link

It’s finally here! Okay, we still have a couple of days, but on Friday night Chuck Bartowski (Zachary Levi), Morgan Grimes (Joshua Gomez), Sarah Walker (Yvonne Strahovski), John Casey (Adam Baldwin), Ellie (Sarah Lancaster), Awesome (Ryan McPartlin), and Jeffster (Vik Sahay, Scott Krinsky) return for their fifth, and final, season. Check out this preview for the season premiere only if you’ve watched all of Season Four (check out the DVD review) as there more than a few spoilers in store.

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Batman: Year One

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Batman: Year One
  • IMDB: link

batman-year-one-dvdThe latest straight-to-DVD animated release from DC Comics and Warner Premiere is extremely faithful adaptation of Frank Miller‘s retelling of Batman’s origin and the early days in the careers of Batman (Ben McKenzie) and Jim Gordon (Bryan Cranston).

Batman: Year One is a good, not great, entry into the DC Animated universe. It isn’t a success in terms of Batman: Under the Red Hood or Justice League: The New Frontier. However, it works better than the Superman/Batman animated films or Wonder Woman. In terms of a mixed success I’d compare it to Green Lantern: First Flight, and Green Lantern: Emerald Knights.

The film does a good job and capturing the look of David Mazzucchelli‘s art from Frank Miller’s Batman: Year One, although it does have a decided Japanese animated look and feel. With a couple of exceptions, including the opening shot of Bruce Wayne returning to Gotham and Gordon unburdening himself to Essen in the diner, the film follows the comic nearly as closely as Sin City.

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Bad Movie

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Bad Teacher
  • IMDB: link

bad-teacher-dvdI like Cameron Diaz. I enjoyed Bad Santa. Hell, I even like Summer School. However, I don’t like all those ingredients thrown into a blender with the barest attempt at originality and the lack of any real laughs.

If you take Billy Bob Thornton‘s character from Bad Santa and put him into Mark Harmon‘s role from Summer School, then make him an aging blonde hottie obsessed with getting a boob job and tricking some rich dullard into marriage you have the script for Bad Teacher, not just the premise mind you, the entire script.

Writers Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg (the comedic geniuses who are responsible for Year One) waste another talented cast by phoning in yet another suprisingly unfunny comedy. If you know how these guys continue to get work please let me know. (I’m guessing that must have some incriminating pictures of several studio heads.)

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Batman #2

/ / Comics

batman-new-52-2-coverBruce Wayne has been marked for death by the mysterious group known as the Court of Owls. Writer Scott Snyder delivers another strong Batman story that explains Nightwing‘s DNA at a crime scene, sees Batman run a motorcycle into a helicopter and full speed, and Bruce Wayne survive an attack from the Court of Owls assassin on the observation deck of Wayne Tower.

First, I’ve got to mention the terrific art by Greg Capullo who really shows off Gotham in this issue as well as give us some great panels of the Dark Knight. The villain (given his look and ability to pop back up from the “dead”) reminded me a little too much of Karl Ruprecht Kroenen from the first Hellboy film, but the fight sequence on the top of Wayne Tower and in mid-air between the assassin and Bruce Wayne works well.

I’m also impressed with Snyder’s ability to capture Bruce Wayne’s arrogance while still being able to present a likable character. Even if he villain isn’t a great one Snyder’s story about the guardians of Gotham and Capullo’s art elevate the issue into one of the best of the week.

[DC, $2.99]

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Prepare for the Awesomeness

/ / TV News 
  • Title: Kung Fu Panda: Legend of Awesomeness
  • tv.com: link

It seems DreamWorks Animation and Nickelodeon are finally ready to let loose the awesome. After sitting in limbo for more than a year Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness (a new cartoon based on the characters from the hit movie) is set to premiere on November 7th on Nickelodeon. The series is using most of the voice cast from the Kung Fu Panda video game (including Mick Wingert, who does a pretty darn good Jack Black as Po) and will boast several well-known guest-stars in the first season including John DiMaggio, Wallace Shawn, Simon Helberg, Stephen Root, Wayne Knight, and Diedrich Bader. James Hong will appear to reprise his role as Po’s father Mr. Ping.

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