TV | Top Gear: US Edition | Fail

I'm torn about this one. It's Top Gear, fer gosh sakes! What's not to like?!?

Well, the show is a faithful rendition of the UK version, minus the hosts. These guys have absolutely no charm or spark. It's as if someone told them to speak slooooowly and move as if they're wading through molasses. They just suck the fun out of practically every scene. There is no compelling reason to watch this over the English original.

They look like they just suffered through 12 hours of staring at a wall in the picture above.

Still, I'll watch every episode. But that doesn't make it anything other than what it is - a Fail.

UPDATE: No change. The show should be scrapped and redone with a different hosts. Just doesn't work with these three guys, who certainly seem nice enough but never gell and are extremely irritating.

Movie | Igor | Pass

Surprisingly fun animated kid's movie that isn't remotely for kids. Very dark, and well worth watching. Just not for children.

People | Leslie Nielsen | RIP

One of the most versatile, under-rated actors has passed away. Time to review his library of work!

Movie | Iron Man 2 | Pass

Decent franchise addition, with plenty of action and enjoyable dialogue. I can't remember all of the tie-ins and references to other characters and storylines, so some of it went over my head. Still, a great popcorn movie!

TV | Shattered | Pass AND Fail

Callum Keith Rennie is just one of those actors that you WANT to watch. His charisma really draws you in and he's got a great edge to him, like he could tell you a joke that you'd remember for the rest of your life, then suddenly hold a knife to your neck.

Unfortunately, his luck in finding exactly the right role that will showcase his skills and onscreen personality continues to allude him in this dark crime drama about a cop with multiple personalities.

Of course, if that premise is really interesting to you, you'll love this show! It doesn't me, so as much as I like him as an actor and this is clearly a well done show, it's just not for me.

A bummer. I hope he finds something someday truly worthy.

Movie | A Scanner Darkly | Fail

Slightly interesting mild scifi about a not-so-distant future where everything is monitored and everyone's a junkie. Unfortunately, it's all rather pointless, vague and less than satisfying. Based on a book by Phillip K. Dick, there are references that don't make sense to the casual watcher. They probably have great significance, if you know what they mean, but I wasn't interested enough to find out. Shame on me, maybe. But, shame on the filmakers for not involving me enough to make me care. The animation technique is interesting, but not so much that it lifts the movie out of the doldrums established by the long scenes composed of a couple of characters just talking and talking and talking. Downey steals the show as usual.

Movie | Bunny and the Bull | Pass

I saw this movie because it had a couple of the guys from The Mighty Boosh in it. It's a creative look into the mind of an agoraphobic who is reliving a trip he went on with a friend. His world is presented in a cartoon (using stop animation), two dimensional way and reminded me of The Science of Sleep.

Ultimately, a character study like this is going to be rather sad. And this movie is, but it's still worth watching if you like something a bit different and mildly shocking, subtle humor.

A Pass.

Movie | Predators | Pass

The mild twists on the plot, characters and casting made this a decent enough addition to a rather tired franchise. Thankfully, Rodriguez chose to produced and let Antal direct, who continues to be very promising (and if you haven't seen his movie Kontroll, you should).

Antal does a great job of making any scene rather claustrophobic and utilizes a rich palette of colors. It's almost as if he's using a different, top secret kind of film.

I was rather surprised to like this movie as much as I did. It wasn't great, but if you liked the other ones, you should like this one. A Pass.

Movie | Knight And Day | Pass

Picture perfect escapist action-comedy that hits every note! If you don't have fun with this one, you're dead inside. Say what you will about Cruise and Diaz, but they're also perfect in this. Super fun and a Pass!

Movie | The Expendables | Fail - WHAT?!?

I suppose if you're looking for a completely forgettable (quite violent) action flick, you could do a lot worse. But...

A truly epic cast can't save a truly stupid plot and dialogue. These guys deserved better - MUCH better. If the movie had starred a no-name cast, then it might have been a "Pass-ish". But, because of who was in this and the potential that was utterly discarded, this is a huge Fail.

What an absolute heart breaker. I hope all of them wise up, get a great script and do another movie together.

Movie | Legion | Pass

Despite all of the poor reviews, I actually really enjoyed about three-quarters of this movie. Sure, there were silly plot holes, but the cast was good and there were good elements reminiscent of Terminator/Movie where people are holed up somewhere to fight the monsters, The Seventh Sign and The Prophecy franchise. If you liked those movies, this one is a rental. I get all of the critical comments about this flick...but, seriously, what did you expect, really? A pass for a horror/action movie night!

Movie | Traitor | Pass

Don Cheadle stars in a movie that has Guy Pearce in it? I'm interested.

Unfortunately, I'm less interested in the plot of this tale of middle-eastern terrorists, political intrigue and religious fanaticism.

The acting was great, too. But the shaky camerawork gave me a headache as usual. It's a terrible technique that should be used very sparingly.

Bizarrely, this was written by Steve Martin. Well, excuse me! I wish I'd liked this more. Or, even better yet, take those two actors and put them in a better movie. Still, it's fairly well done and a Pass.

Movie | The Legend Is Born: Ip Man | Pass

This was not a great movie. Other than the fascinating (but regrettably mostly fictitious) documentation of Wing Chun's modern messiah Ip Man's life, the rest of the movie is pretty fluffy and ridiculous. The acting is fairly good, but the choreography just goes on and on and the usage of wire-fu just sucked the life out of it for me.

Oh, and the appearance of the real-life son of Ip Man, Ip Chun was very cool. Sammo Hung was his usual superb self and casting Yuen Biao was a brilliant move (he was the star of the best Wing Chun movie to date before the Donnie Yen's version - The Prodigal Son). The actor who played Ip Man was unfamiliar to me, but he was quite good.

But, unless you're a hardcore Wing Chun follower or just really love kung fu movies, this one is barely a Pass. Bummer. If you're looking for something really worth seeing, check out the movies that I've mentioned, The Prodigal Son and Ip Man instead.

People | Dino De Laurentiis | RIP

Mega-producer Dino De Laurentiis has passed away, a great loss to the cinematic world.

Movie | Drillbit Taylor | Pass

Surprise! Who knew this predictable story about a hobo who helps out some high school geeks would be so charming? Well, it is. All credit goes to a super cast and the clever dialogue. If you liked Major Payne, you'll like this one. Crazy, but a Pass!

Movie | Fanboys | Fail

A cool cast featuring some spectacular cameos can't save a dreadful script about four friends determined to see the next Star Wars movie before one of them dies. Barely any laughs and sadly a Fail. The force is weak with this one.

TV | The Walking Dead | PASS

Uh oh, AMC is at again. How one network can take so many interesting premises and make them so boring is beyond me. Take for example the remake of The Prisoner. A great cast and gorgeous filming couldn't compensate for the snails' pacing.

And how about Rubicon? The cool premise was brought down to such a crawl that I lost complete interest.

Does AMC stand for Arid Monotone Channel?

So, when I learned that they'd picked up a zombie series, I was tentative to say the least.

Happily, they've broken the mold, at least with the pilot. The show continues the dual traditions of excellent cast and superb cinematography, far exceeding "normal" TV standards.

The feel of the show is familiar and the first ten minutes could have been straight out of Mad Max, set in middle America of course. Then the plot turns to 28 Days Later, but without most of the frighteningly frenetic energy.

So, if you're a fan of the zombie or Richard Matheson-created I Am Legend genres, you've seen all of this before. And there sure has been a plethora of zombie movies lately. Pretty good ones, in fact. Fortunately, it's still fun and the entire production is buoyed by an excellent cast.

The lead, played by Andrew Lincoln, is not a familiar actor to me. But I found his performance to be superb. The show also features the fantastic Lennie James (Jericho), who is strangely uncredited on IMDB. Hopefully, that will be fixed and he will continue on with the show. It would be a crime if he wasn't utilized.

A common complaint recently is that some of the best true-blue American character roles are being handed to foreign actors. This show continues that criticism, as both James and Lincoln are English. How they hide their accents so well is amazing...

It's also nice to see Jon Bernthal in a decent role. He seems like a good actor that just hasn't found the right role yet. Hopefully, this will be it.

The show is gruesome and will amaze you with the nastiness portrayed on a cable TV channel. I was also less than thrilled about the violence towards children (even if pre-deadified) and animals. So, not for kids or the squeamish and definitely an R rating. What did you want, Thriller?

I haven't read the comic books that the show is based on, but from what I've read it's very, very close. Shot for shot, at times, even. So fans should be pleased.

Great usage of a little known late 90s Wang Chung song, Space Junk. Caution: R-rated YouTube clip for violence. And how about that reverse foreign subtitled video?

I loved it, especially the nihilistic angle. Two thumbs up and a Pass!