Sunday, July 02, 2006

Must See: Supernatural

SupernaturalTHE PREMISE: 22 years ago, their mother died hanging... no, wait... flat on the ceiling of Sam’s nursery. Their father saved them but there was a fire and everything was gone. Present Day, Dean visits Sam and tells him their dad has been on a hunting trip and hasn’t been home since. The catch was that their dad was hunting the thing that killed their mother 22 years ago. Thus was born the moster-hunting duo of the brothers Winchester.

The series centers around brothers Dean (Jensen Ackles) and Sam (Jared Padalecki) while they travel across the country in search for their missing father. We learn that ever since their mother died, their father has been training them to prepare for anything supernatural because their mother was in fact killed by a demon.

Taking cue from other hit-shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the X-Files, Supernatural unleashes a variety of demons and monsters on an unknowing world. The season is split in dual narrative form as each episode features a self-contained story while building on the mythology of the entire series much like the aforementioned shows. Anyone who's a fan of the supernatural (no pun intended) will dig the show's mix of monsters & drama.

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Must See: Firefly

Today I've finished watching all the episodes of another Joss Whedon show called FIREFLY. I wasn't expecting too much from this show ...okay I was. I'd watch anything from Joss Whedon. The show which aired on FOX received mixed reviews. Possibly because FOX (as always) screwed with the series production. They also aired the episodes out of the creators' intended order. You DON'T mess with Joss Whedon's work. Even idiots know that. That must mean, those FOX execs are really   insert curse words here  .

FireflyTHE PREMISE: Set 500 years into the future, Earth as we know it is no more. A large population travelled to space and started living on different planets and moons which were fitted to somewhat resemble Earth. There was a war for Unification and it succeeded. Unfortunately, we're on the losing side. Mal Reynolds struggles as a captain of a small space freighter called Serenity, taking whatever jobs that come his way - legal or otherwise. Mal's (Nathan Fillion) crew includes former war buddy Zoe (Gina Torres) and her husband and the ship's pilot Wash (Alan Tudyk), mechanic Kaley (Jewel Staite) and hired-gun Jayne (Adam Baldwin). Along for the ride is a respectable member of the Companion's Guild named Inara (Morena Baccarin). Later, the crew are joined by a Shepard named Book (Ron Glass) and siblings Simon (Sean Maher) and River (Summer Glau).

Honestly, I've never been a fan of "space" shows. I might've watched a couple of movies and some episodes of Star Trek here and there but I wasn't really looking forward to it. It was just there. Much more westerns. Frankly, when I heard about Firefly's premise as a space-western, I wasn't really interested. But it's a Joss Whedon show so I must at least take a look. Man, was I surprised. This is not you're usual space show with aliens, ambassadors and a righteous crew. First off, the show has no aliens. All characters are human, some more than others. Second, the Firefly crew are not on a mission from the ruling government/federation/alliance. These are just normal people finding whatever jobs to survive. But it's much more. The dialogue and storytelling are great as one would expect from Mutant Enemy. The characters are all witty and entertaining. Hell, there are really some hilarious moments involving Simon and the crew.

Even though the show has been cancelled by those   insert curse words here   execs from FOX, the show has already developed a loyal fan base which have not only held campaigns to keep the show alive for another run (possibly on a different network) but have also raised money for charity in the name of Firefly. Oh and now there's a movie.

Friday, May 19, 2006

ANGEL: Fan-made Season 6 Teaser

Here is another video I found surfing the internet. It’s a fan made teaser for ANGEL season 6. I haven’t done an entry about it but it’s also one cool show. It’s about a vampire running a detective agency in Los Angeles. Anyways, the show was cancelled after five seasons. However, this show has a large cult following just like its sister-show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, ergo the fan-made Season 6 teaser trailer which may contain spoilers from the last minutes of Angel season 5. You've been warned. Watch at your own risk.

Banned Spider-Man Trailer

My brother has been telling me about YouTube for months and I never listened. Finally re-discovered it thru links from Whedonesque and look what I found -- it's the original Spider-Man trailer that got pulled out from cinemas (Edited: now links to PhotoBucket instead). I remember seeing this for the first time on the theatre and didn't pay much attention. Didn't know that was the first and last time I was going to see it. Heh, I remember thinking that it was a trailer for another action movie by some big-named Hollywood actor like Bruce Willis or Arnold Schwartzenegger. Bank robberies are such a common theme for action movies, I never imagined it to turn out the way it did. Go watch.