Doctor Who: The Movie (1996) Movie Review

Ever since “Doctor Who” had its final sign-off in 1989, fans have been clamoring for its resurrection. They got their wish in May of 1996, when a joint BBC/Universal Films production was released on the FOX Television network. While obviously an Americanized version of the classic British...

June 14th, 2004 | Read More

Band of Brothers (2001) Mini-series TV Review

The HBO original mini-series “Band of Brothers” is the kind of filmmaking enterprise that makes the word “epic” seem inadequate. The series (smartly) takes a myopic view of the war, focusing on a small group of men instead of giving us a grand tale that encompassed all the different...

April 13th, 2004 | Read More

Battlestar Galactica (2003) Mini-Series TV Review

Part One: I’ve seen some episodes of the old “Battlestar Galactica” TV show, which appeared about 25 years ago and went off the air after only a yearlong run, but I was never really impressed with it. I’ve also heard all the brouhaha about the upcoming Sci-Fi Channel mini-series,...

December 8th, 2003 | Read More

24: Season 3, Pilot (2003) TV Review

Jack Bauer is having the longest day of his life — again. Tis time around the brother of an incarcerated Mexican drug lord has threatened to unleash a deadly virus on the populace of Los Angeles unless the United States releases his big brother. Making things more complicated is the fact that Jack...

October 28th, 2003 | Read More

24: Season 3: Premiere (2003) TV Review

Jack Bauer is having the longest day of his life — again. Tis time around the brother of an incarcerated Mexican drug lord has threatened to unleash a deadly virus on the populace of Los Angeles unless the United States releases his big brother. Making things more complicated is the fact that Jack...

October 28th, 2003 | Read More

10-8: Pilot (2003) TV Review

Cop shows. I swear Hollywood can’t get enough of them. As soon as one cop show fails (and the vast majority of them invariably does), there are 10 more to jump in and give it a shot (only to invariably fail just like the one they tried to replace). It’s probably not too much of an exaggeration...

September 28th, 2003 | Read More

10-9: Officers on Duty: Pilot (2003) TV Review

Cop shows. I swear Hollywood can’t get enough of them. As soon as one cop show fails (and the vast majority of them invariably does), there are 10 more to jump in and give it a shot (only to invariably fail just like the one they tried to replace). It’s probably not too much of an exaggeration...

September 28th, 2003 | Read More

Threat Matrix: Pilot (2003) TV Review

More “CSI” than “The Agency”, the new ABC show “Threat Matrix” is based on an actual document of the same name that details all threats against America in any given day. The show revolves around a small group of experts from various intelligence agencies; their job...

September 18th, 2003 | Read More

Jake 2.0: Pilot (2003) TV Review

Think of it as “The Six Million Dollar Gen-X’er”. The premise is simple: Jake Foley (Christopher Gorham) works for the National Security Agency as a tech support guy, but he dreams of being a “real” agent and working in the field. Trouble is, Jake is not all that physically...

September 10th, 2003 | Read More

Helen of Troy (2003) Mini-Series TV Review

As if channeling the oracle Cassandra, screenwriter Ronnie Kern (who I suspect is a woman, but I could be wrong) must have known he/she was in for some backlash by people who spent their bored days pouring over Homer’s epics, because the movie opens with narration that informs us what we’re...

August 30th, 2003 | Read More

Attila (2001) Mini-Series TV Review

After Attila the Hun has raided her village, slaughtered her people, and made her into a slave, a young woman name N’Kara falls madly in love with him, and vice versa. Your guess is as good as mine when they realized they were right for each other. Maybe it was when she saw him cut the throat of...

August 20th, 2003 | Read More

Peacemakers: Pilot (2003) TV Review

With the mammoth (and I think unexpected) success of TV Tech Cop show “C.S.I.” and its 20 other imitators spread across the 4 networks, it was inevitable that some clever writer would pitch this idea: “It’s C.S.I. but in the Wild West!” That, in a nutshell, is the premise...

July 30th, 2003 | Read More

Spooks aka MI-5: Pilot (2002) TV Review

The British should probably reconsider making too many movies and TV shows about their intelligence agencies. After all, look at what’s happened to the Americans. After 30-plus years of Hollywood dragging the reputation of the CIA and the FBI through the mud, the vast majority of people around...

July 22nd, 2003 | Read More

Dead Like Me: Pilot (2003) TV Review

People say that when you’re about to die you can feel Death’s icy fingers on the back of your neck. According to the new Showtime comedy/drama “Dead Like Me”, it’s not actually Death himself touching you, it’s his army of low-level “grim reapers”. In “Dead...

July 10th, 2003 | Read More

Now and Again (1999-2000) TV Series Review

“Now and Again” is a wonderful TV show that was unfortunately cancelled after only one season. But at least it got to last for a full season, with a full 22 episodes to its credit. If nothing else, those of us who appreciates a well-made TV show, with just the right combination of fantasy,...

July 7th, 2003 | Read More

Keen Eddie: Pilot (2003) TV Review

The one thing that can sink Fox’s new TV series “Keen Eddie” before it even gets a chance to dog paddle is the same thing that sunk another Fox TV show, “The American Embassy”. It’s this: Americans just don’t seem to care all that much about England. Oh sure,...

June 6th, 2003 | Read More

Family Business: Episode 1-3 (2003) TV Review

Porn is a multi-billionaire dollar a year business. Some say porn is the only reason the Internet is so popular, and it’s been proven again and again that porn is the only sure-fire profitable business on the World Wide Web. So what does that say about our society? Well, for one, it says that people...

April 21st, 2003 | Read More

Black Sash: Pilot (2003) TV Review

TV shows like “Black Sash” can only exist in a world with networks like the WB and UPN. It’s a teen-oriented martial arts show with only the presence of movie veteran Russell Wong (”Romeo Must Die”) to break up the litany of young pretty faces played by 20-somethings faking...

April 6th, 2003 | Read More

Children of Dune (2003) Mini-Series TV Review

Let’s get it out of the way first: I have never read Frank Herbert’s “Dune” books. Not a single one. This was the case when I went into “Dune”, the original mini-series produced by the Sci-Fi Channel a few years back, and it’s the case now. The mini-series collects...

March 12th, 2003 | Read More

The Shield: Pilot (2002) TV Review

When the opening shot of a TV show warns you that the show you’re about to watch has graphic violence, nudity, strong language, and that it may not be appropriate for children, you know what’s coming up next ain’t “Picket Fences.” In the vein of tough cop shows like “NYPD...

March 12th, 2003 | Read More