TV & Movie Reviews – Alternative Mindz

The Legend of Korra: Book 2 review

October 2, 2013Rob Leave a Comment

By Robert “Rob Base” Greenwood

So, I finally sat down and watched the first three chapters of Book Two. I have to say that the hype is well worth it. Book One felt so “not” like the original series, that it was a bit off putting.

Coming into Book Two, we are finally getting to see where this series is going and how it will evolve into something unique and different.

This new season has so much build up and yet still finds time to remind loyal fans why they loved the Last Airbender.
The silliness and room for jokes/comic relief fit in and is never forced.

This season finds our new Avatar, Korra, traveling back to her roots in the Southern Water tribe where we finally see more of her family and how differences in opinions fuel a civil war with the Northern Water tribe.

Yet there is one more new element added to this series and that is of the Spirits. This is so inspired by Miyazaki and the themes in Princess Mononoke, there is no way that it is not intentional, at all.

This new factor makes this season stand on its own two legs. I still have issues with the lead, Korra, though. Her mood swings are so sharp that I find myself not wanting to cheer for her. I know she is a teenager, a young lady coming into her own.

Maybe that is the issue? There could be a better balance of teenage angst and her duty as the current Avatar? Her supporting characters are so well thought out that they seem to be the main focus to me. I hope all this teen rage turns out to reinforce Korra into the best Avatar we have ever seen.

I give the first three chapters of Book two a solid 3/5. Watch it every week on Nickelodeon.

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The Simpsons: 25 Seasons of TV’s First Family

October 2, 2013Rob Leave a Comment

The Simpsons: 25 Seasons of TV’s First Family

It’s a hard fact to think about, but The Simpson’s have been on the air now for 25 seasons. And if you count the shorts from Tracy Ullman’s show, they have been apart of our lives now for 26 years.

They may not hold the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest running animated series, but they hold up their own quite well.

Homer, Bart, Lisa, Marge, Maggie and all their friends and neighbors in Springfield have entertained us and shown us that there is nothing that can’t be said or done without a good laugh.

Just like Family Guy and all the past and current crop of TV animated families, The Simpsons may not be the first (that honor goes to the Flintstones), but they have achieved greater status in the eyes of all who watch.

So as season 25 starts, let’s all spend time reflecting on a series that has amassed more than 500 episodes. We may not love all of them, but as long as ratings are there and awards keep coming, I hope to see The Simpsons make it for another 30+ seasons.

Not as though you need to be told, but new episodes of The Simpson’s air every Sunday on Fox.

Follow me on Twitter @AltMindz

DVD Review: Dean Martin celebrity roast

October 2, 2013Rob Leave a Comment

By Robert “Rob Base” Greenwood

Dean Martin Celebrity Roast

I spent the better part of my weekend watching this fantastic and hilarious DVD collection of some of the funniest episodes of the Dean Martin Celebrity Roast.

If you have never seen or are too young to have known about this series, It was the forerunner of what is now shown on Comedy Central. Only while Comedy Central do theirs once a year, this was on nearly evey week.

What makes these shows so funny is watching iconic comedians and actors just letting themselves loose and having a good time, yet having to work in a time of a harsh censorship.

This collection does seem to be uncensored with little slips here and there. Like Flip Willson calling Nipsey Russell the N-Word or Red Fox saying that White folks can’t write jokes for “Spooks.”

It’s harsh yet so tame compared to today’s roasts. It had class and charm and they roasted some of the elite in comedy and film of that era.

It’s deis was a crowning achievement of style and substance. The roast of Jimmy Stewart had Lucille Ball, Rich Little, Milton Berle,Tony Randal and so many others. The show was topped by The late great Orson Welles, who refused to mock Stewart but instead made a personal love letter to the film industry.

Each show tried its best to top each other and had me laughing so hard that it actually hurt. If you can only afford one DVD set collection in your home library, this is a must-buy.

The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast is as funny today as it was more than 30 years ago. I give the Dean Martin Celebrity Roast DVD collection a 5/5.

GRAB A DRINK AND A CIGARETTE AND WITNESS THE BIRTH OF THE CELEBRITY ROAST WITH THIS MUST-SEE COLLECTION FEATURING THE LEGENDS OF COMEDY

AND THE GREATEST PERFORMERS, ATHLETES AND PERSONALITIES OF THE 20TH CENTURY

THE DEAN MARTIN CELEBRITY ROASTS:

COLLECTOR’S EDITION

Street Date: October 8, 2013

DVD SRP: $59.95 (6 Discs)

31 days of Halloween:Witch’s Night Out

October 25, 2012Rob Leave a Comment

The plot involves a witch who accompanies two children named Small and Tender with their babysitter (Bazooey) to a Halloween party and transforms them into a werewolf, Frankenstein’s monster, and a ghost (previously their Halloween costumes). The witch takes them to the Halloween party-in-progress at her house. Other citizens of the town get offended. They try to catch these supernatural beings as a mob. The children and Bazooey spend the night as real eerie creatures but decide they need to become human beings again. A disco song entitled “Witch Magic” was sung in this film.

31 days of Halloween: Penny Dreadful’s Day of the Dead

October 9, 2012Rob Leave a Comment