Movie | Killers | Pass

Entertaining enough and Kutcher wasn't too awful.

Movie | The East | PASs

Maybe not quite as engaging as Marling's past work (Sound of My Voice, Another Earth) and there's less of an indie feel. That's probably because big stars were used in the cast, though they were all excellent. Still, this is an absolute must see!

Movie | Quartet | Fail

What a crime. This movie had all of the makings for a fun flick, but was just a borefest. Admittedly, we only got through the first 50 minutes. But we couldn't take any more of the slow pace and lack of character development. Sad.

TV | White Collar Brawlers | FAIL

Stupid.

Movie | Shanks | PAss

Famed shlock director William Castle set out to make a masterpiece, but failed to hit the mark. But what he ended up with...wow! Oddball in the extreme, this is some seriously cult classic film-making! If you're looking for something waaaaay off the beaten path, you've got to see this!

Movie | Doghouse | Pass

Neither genius nor a break-thru, it is all of the other things on the movie poster. Lots of comparisons to Shaun of the Dead, but not quite as coherent. Still, it's must see for genre fans.

Features Neil Maskell (Arby from Utopia!) in a small role.

Movie | Joyful Noise | Pass-ish

Terrible script, decent cast, good music. Plastic surgery gone horribly wrong.

Movie | Diabolique (1954) | PAss

Wonderful to see again, after all these years. It's been so long that I completely forgot the plot. A true classic.

Movie | The Sapphires | PAss

Utterly delightful movie along similar lines as The Commitments. Based on a true story. Nice to see Chris O'Dowd in a role that has some depth to it.

TV | Count Arthur Strong | PAss

First episode was so-so until the end, when I was roaring. It will be interesting to see if the show gets better. Second episode was a bit more even with the laughs, but didn't have me roaring. By the third round, the show really grew on me, I liked the characters and I was laughing a lot and consistently. Graham Linehan (The IT Crowd) co-wrote this and you can see similar patterns here.

Movie | The Triplets of Belleville | PAss

Superb animated French film about a grandmother who will do anything for her grandson. Magnifique!

Movie | Norwegian Ninja | Pass

What a weird little movie. I've never even heard of Arne Treholt and this movie spins his story off into fantasy land. Still, it had enjoyable moments and if you're looking for something seriously oddball, this is film might be your ninja star.

TV | The Ice Cream Girls | PAss

Very good three part miniseries drama about two women suffering from the after affects of a 17-year old murder.

Movie | About Time | PAss

Excellent film featuring a stellar cast plus a great script - the always enjoyable Bill Nighy, Domhhall Gleeson (one to watch, from Black Mirror), Lydia Wilson (Misfits, Dirk Gently, Black Mirror), Lindsay Duncan (Spy) and Rachel McAdams (a big star now, but definitely check out Slings and Arrows). The shaky camerawork made me nauseous, as usual. But that's nothing new. Recommended!

TV | The Birthday Boys | Pass-ish

More creative than funny.

Movie | Knuckle | PAss

Very good documentary that films 10 years of bad blood between multiple Irish Gypsy clans.

Movie | Monsters University | PAss

Oozma Kappa RULES! Delightful and a must see, especially if you liked the original.

Movie | Hotel Transylvania | PAss

Super fun!

Movie | The Man With The Iron Fists | Pass-ish

This is a faithful homage. Which is to say, it's as bad (or as good, depending on your viewpoint) as 90% of all other wuxia. I thought it was okay, actually a bit better than I expected (which was next to zero). There are some interesting connections to other movies, including chambara, which kept me relatively entertained. Hey, I saw if for free. And I got what I paid for.

Movie | Pacific Rim | Pass-ish

Guillermo del Toro plays like he's Michael Bay and makes a version of Transformers (or Iron Man or GI Joe...take your pick). But, wait! There's Kaiju in this one! Still not that unique or interesting...

Is this a good movie? No. Is it entertaining? Yes. It's visually stimulating and at the same time, dumb as a rock. There's barely a story and there are no surprises. Don't think about the lack of storyline or interesting character development. It just isn't there.

Ramin Djawadi's soundtrack sounds like it has all the makings for another masterpiece until you realize that he's just recycling the same hook over and over and over, which happens about 5 minutes in and continues for the entire 2+ hours.

None of the actors were particularly bad, but they all seemed to be quite a bit off their game. I think it was the terrible dialogue. It's hard to get much emotional impact out of "Let's do this thing!" Oh, and the director has to take a lot of the blame here, too. I wish it were otherwise, but I don't think this did anybody's resume any good. Maybe from the box office profits, but not from an intellectual, artistic level.

Much of the action makes no sense. For example, weapons are used after things go bad. Why not use them before? There were so many problems with this mindless blockbuster, I don't even know where to begin.

Disappointing.

Movie | Days of Darkness | Fail

Boring.

Movie | Rise of the Guardians | PAss

Of course I liked it. Worth watching!

TV | Orange is the New Black | Pass

I kept expecting this show to get (1) funnier and (2) better. But, it really didn't. It all feels like a big setup for future shenanigans, which I hope it is. I also couldn't help comparing it to the far funnier, less gritty and very similar Dead Boss. I'm not one for the women in prison premise anyway.

Movie | Killing Bono | Fail

There is absolutely nothing wrong with this movie (Robert Sheehan!) other than it's just not an interesting story. I feel bad about that, because it's based on a true story and I'm sure it was wild for the real people involved. But as a movie, it didn't engage us as a premise or an ongoing plot.

TV | NTSF:SD:SUV:: | Pass

Only saw one episode and thought it was rather humorous. Looking forward to more.

Update: Actually got hooked on the thing. There's more there than the usual Adult Swim junk. Clever and it features a great cast full of familiar faces.

TV | Toy Story of Terror | PAss

Adorable and a welcome return to form. That last movie was depressing.

TV | Milton Jones' The House of Rooms | Pass

TV | The Booth at The End | PAss

Excellent psychological thriller with a slightly frustrating format. The segments are 30 seconds to under 3 minutes, which makes for a schizophrenic experience to me. Still, well done and very interesting. All of the "action" happens in your own imagination - cool! If I had to compare it to something, I would mention The Twilight Zone, but there are probably better comparisons. I'm just too tired at the moment to think of some at the moment. Try me again after my nap.

Check it out on Hulu.

TV | The Tomorrow People | Fail

Yep. Nope. The drive to feature "pretty people" over all else (story, production, etc.) is sad.

TV | The Heart, She Holler | Pass

Wacky for wacky sake and disturbing for no reason other than a cheap laugh, but occasionally funny. Unworthy of the cast.