Star Trek TNG Season Four

Just finished my complete episode list for season four of Star Trek TNG and my Best 3, Worst 3 for the season over on my Star Trek TNG Episode Guide.

More than half-way through the series now!  (100 episodes down, 78 to go...)

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CaptainD - Movie Reviews Blog

The Way Back Trailer

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CaptainD - Movie Reviews Blog

The Pacific

This 2010 mini-series, from the same people who brought us Band of Brothers, is about three marines involved in the American-Japanese conflict in the Pacific region during World War II. The stories of each man intertwine with the others at various points. The three main stars are Joseph Mazzello as PFC Eugene Sledge, James Badge Dale as PFC Robert Leckie and Jon Seda as Sgt. John Basilone. I have yet to see it myself, but having recently watched the Colditz series made in the seventies, I have to admit that when dealt with intelligently, wartime dramas have a raw emotional power that other genres struggle to match.

My guess is that if you liked Band of Brothers (I have to admit, that's something else I've never watched), then you might want to consider getting The Pacific DVD boxset.  It's average rating of 8.4/10 on IMDB at the moment is an impressive indicator of the viewing public's opinion (not that I always agree with the IMDB ratings! :-D).  It was a big production with an estimated budge of $150m.  

The Pacific was nominated for a whopping 23 Emmy Awards, of which it won 8 (Outstanding Art Direction For A Miniseries Or Movie, Outstanding Casting For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Special, Outstanding Makeup For A Miniseries Or Movie [Non-Prosthetic], Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Special, Outstanding Miniseries, Outstanding Sound Editing For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Special, Outstanding Sound Mixing For A Miniseries Or Movie and Outstanding Special Visual Effects For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Special).  Quite an impressive list!

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CaptainD - Movie Reviews Blog

Popular Posts

I've added a new feature to the blog - look at the top right of the menu bar and you'll see "Popular Posts". You can always see what the most popular posts on this blog are for the week, month or all-time.  But here are the links again...

• This Week
• This Month
• of All Time

As you can see, at time of posting this the week's most popular post was my review of How To Train Your Dragon, for the month my write-up of two movies I saw on TV a while back (The Mask and Mean Girls), while the most popular off all time is my review of the 2010 version of Robin Hood.

So there you have it.  We shall see how things progress over the next few days, weeks, months and even years.

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CaptainD - Movie Reviews Blog

Batteries Not Included

This 1987 movie directed by Matthew Robins is a retro blast that packs a solid emotional punch while delivering a good story that resonates well with adults as well as children. It's all about small visitors from the stars of course, little flying saucers who go round fixing things, plugging into electricity sockets to recharge and generally look very cute.

There are the normal pantomime villains of course, though local thug Carlos (Michael Carmine) does have a bit of a redemption scene towards the end (however the implication is definitely that it's too late). Frank and Faye Riley (Hume Cronyn [Cocoon] and Jessica Tandy) are an aging couple struggling to hang on to what little they have left, while corporate business and the young thugs try to force them out - all the while dealing with Faye's Alzheimer's disease. In the same block - last one standing in their community - are quiet retired boxer Harry Noble (Frank McRae), pregnant Marisa Esteval (Elizabeth Pena) and tsruggling artist Mason Baylor (Dennis Boutsikaris).

Though the opening scene seems a bit longer than necessary and perhaps a little too brutal for younger ones, once the little aliens come onto the scene, Batteries Not Included is a movie that has the ability to awaken the child in all of us. It's very sweet but displays a hard edge every so often; the special effects still look great and there are several scenes that are likely to have you laughing out loud. The characters all have just that bit more to them than first meets the eye, too.

With Steven Spielburg as Executive Producer and Brad Bird (of PIXAR fame) among the writers, Batteries Not Included has plenty of star talent behind it, and James Horner provides a lovely musical score. Great stuff.

Watch the Trailer:



Buy it on Amazon.co.uk:

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CaptainD - Movie Reviews Blog

The Secret of PIXAR's Success...

Fans of computer-animated movies will find this look at what PIXAR do differently to most other studios interesting - see this feature on Wired.com.

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CaptainD - Movie Reviews Blog

The Furfangs - Chapter 2

Remember those pesky furfangs? Well, they're back!

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CaptainD - Movie Reviews Blog

No Strings Attached Trailer

As a rule I really don't like Ashton Kutcher, but... this actually looks like it might be funny.

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CaptainD - Movie Reviews Blog

Water for Elephants Trailer

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CaptainD - Movie Reviews Blog

Press Release - "Name That Movie" to be released in December 2010

Can students really learn the high-level vocabulary words affable and pariah from the Family Guy movie? Did Captain Jack Sparrow use the words macabre, belligerent, and superfluous in Pirates of the Caribbean movies? The answer is “Yes!”

In his new Name That Movie! books (Wiley, December 2010, $9.99), test-prep author Brian Leaf merges his teen readers' passion for movies with their need to learn standardized-test vocabulary words. The two books (one a comedy/action edition and the other, a romantic comedy/drama edition) provide quotes from popular movies. Readers attempt to name the movies and define the boldfaced vocabulary words in each quote.

The books are half movie trivia and half vocabulary instruction, with 1,000 vocabulary words in each. Words are taken from Step Brothers, Knocked Up, 300, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Iron Man, Mean Girls, The Notebook, Wedding Crashers, Pride & Prejudice, Miss Congeniality, Shrek, and more. 

Sounds like an interesting idea - at first I thought "why on earth would you write a book about this?!", and slowly became somewhat fascinated with the idea.  Will hopefully get a review done early in the new year.

You can also pre-order Brian's Name That Movie books - the Romcom and Comedy / Action movie editions - on the UK Amazon site for £6.29 each.

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CaptainD - Movie Reviews Blog

"The Hole" Trailer

Joe Dante's 'The Hole' on DVD / Blu-ray / 17th January

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CaptainD - Movie Reviews Blog

Joe Dante's 'The Hole' on DVD / Blu-ray / 17th January

From visionary horror director, Joe Dante (Gremlins, Small Soldiers), comes a family-friendly chiller which explores the fears and secrets buried deep in the human mind. Starring teen heartthrob Chris Massoglia (The Vampire's Assistant), THE HOLE is the story of two brothers who discover a bottomless hole in the basement of their new home. As the brothers explore the depths of the mysterious hole, they soon discover that their deepest fears and darkest nightmares are coming to life. Explore new depths of horror when THE HOLE opens on DVD and Blu-ray from Entertainment One on 17th January 2011.

Boasting stunning special effects and a suspenseful storyline, THE HOLE also stars rising young actors Haley Bennett (The Haunting of Molly Hartley, Marley & Me) and Nathan Gamble (Marley & Me) alongside veteran talent Teri Polo (Meet the Parents, TV’s The West Wing) and Bruce Dern (Coming Home).

Life couldn’t get any worse, or so thought teen brothers Dane and Lucas, when their single mother Susan uproots them from New York to the sleepy little town of Bensonville. With Mum spending more and more time at work, Dane and Lucas are left alone to explore the depths of their eerie new residence. Along with pretty next door neighbour, Julie, the boys stumble across a sinister bottomless hole under a locked trap door in the basement. As they become consumed by the hole and attempt to uncover their home's haunted history, the trio realise that when the hole is exposed, evil is unleashed. With strange shadows lurking around every corner and past nightmares coming to life, they each come face-to-face with their darkest fears.

A fun-filled first frightener for teens and a scary classic for Dante fans which pays homage to a host of other horror films, THE HOLE is thrilling entertainment for all ages.

The Hole Blu-ray and DVD Details

Certificate: 12
Audio (DVD): Dolby Digital 5.1/2.0
Audio (Blu-ray): DTS-HD Master Audio
Aspect ratio: 16:9 (1.85:1)
Running time: TBC
Price (DVD): £19.99 (£10.97 on Amazon.co.uk)
Price (Blu-ray) £24.99 (£14.99 on Amazon.co.uk)
Special features: Making of The Hole
Interviews with Cast and Crew
Behind the Scenes

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CaptainD - Movie Reviews Blog

Thor Trailer

Marvel's latest...

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CaptainD - Movie Reviews Blog

Rio Trailer

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CaptainD - Movie Reviews Blog

Real Steel Trailer

Enter the.... robot boxers?!?  Hugh Jackman and a bunch of CGI fighters... not sure about this one!

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CaptainD - Movie Reviews Blog

The Illusionist Trailer

By the people who brought us Belle-Vous Rendezvous... which was seriously strange.

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CaptainD - Movie Reviews Blog

The Tourist - Trailer

Much has been made of Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie teaming up... but somehow I can't get even remotely excited about this movie. Anyone seen it yet? Is it any good?

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CaptainD - Movie Reviews Blog

Transformers: Dark of the Moon Trailer

Could it be even worse than Transformers 2? Well... maybe.

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CaptainD - Movie Reviews Blog

Beastly Trailer

A modern urban restyling of Beauty and the Beast... could be interesting, Alex Pettyfer is a good young actor.

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CaptainD - Movie Reviews Blog

3D-Up Your Life! (Press Release)

Upgrade to 3D playback for under £100 with bolt-on Plextor PX-B120U

December 9th, 2010 – Portable and pretty, the plug-and-play Plextor PX-B120U delivers easy-to-access HD and 3D content.

With more and more movies coming out in 3D, sale of compatible screens are set to rise this Christmas – but it doesn’t have to cost a fortune to upgrade your system to offer 3D playback on top.

Plextors launch in July of their PX-B120U provides an economic, quick and simple bolt-on option to playback HD and 3D movies without the need for upgrading your entire media system.

Depending on your set-up the drive can deliver 3D through one of two methods:

Through System

The portable PX-B120U uses USB to connect to your PC, laptop or media centre as a fully functional Blu-ray drive.

Direct to TV

The versatile PX-120U also doubles as a standalone Blu-ray player connecting direct to the TV when used with the PlexMedia box (due for launch 2011).

As long as your system is running Windows XP/Vista/7 or above and has at least 128MB RAM, simply plug in the Plextor and you are ready for 3D playback anywhere.

This unique flexibility makes it the perfect go-between for enjoying movies both at home with the family or away to liven up a boring journey.

What’s more the Plextor PX-B120U is packed with additional useful features such as:

* 4x Blu-ray playback

* USB powered for portability

* Top-loading mechanism for easy access

* Cyberlink Power DVD for added performance

* 2 year on-site warranty

The PX-B120U is now available to buy across Europe for approximately £92 inc VAT.

The PlexMedia box is anticipated to launch in early 2011.

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On a related subject, I was recently informed about an article explaining what all this 3D malarkey is about.  So here it is:  All about 3D TV

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CaptainD - Movie Reviews Blog