The Pretender

Jarod and Miss Parker reunite again...well, sort of.

The Hallmark Channel is showing re-runs of one of my favorite shows: The Pretender. It's the story of a genius who was kidnapped and exploited by The Centre for less than creditable purposes because he could learn how to be anyone he wanted in a matter of minutes.

I used to gather around the television with my family for our weekly installments of the genius who looked incrediably hot in a black leather jacket. At least for an "old guy"--I would say (I was in high school and late twenties was old for me). The best part of The Pretender was the cat and mouse chase between the snarky yet sharply dressed Miss Parker and Jarod a.k.a "The Pretender". Their tit-for-tat was as captivating as two professional tango dancers going at it.

ALSO, The Pretender movies are being released on a combo DVD this March. The second movie includes the tough as nails Miss Parker and your friendly neighborhood genius Jarod stranded on an island together...so cool. A hat tip goes to Jarod's Safe House and TV Shows on DVD for the news.

This is your chance to fall in love with The Pretender all over again, or to meet your new TV love for the first time.

For more info check out The Pretender Centre

Read more »

A lesson from the X-Men

Wolverine: Sometimes we need to heal fast and follow our instincts.

Storm: God gave us dominion over the Earth, we're its keepers so we should use its resources for good and respect its power.

Rogue: Sometimes our touch can hurt people. Even our best attentions can go awry, so use your touch wisely.

Iceman: There are times to be frozen, when it comes to being solid in our faith.

Shadowcat/Kitty: As children of God we're meant to break down barriers and walk through walls to unite people and show them the beauty and truth of Jesus.

Cyclops: We need to watch how we look at people. Sometimes our stares can be deadly.

Jean Grey: Our mind is a powerful thing, we can either master it or let it master us.

Professor X: We're supposed to equip others on how to fight for goodness and justice.

Colossus: Sometimes we need to be as strong as metal so the devil's arrows won't break through our armor.

Archangel: We need to spead our wings and fly.

Beast: There are times when we need be diplomatic and there are times when we need to fight.

The X-Men have it right, it's time take a stand. For Christ.

Read more »

Smallville's Justice League

There are big episodes and then there are BIG episodes. Tonight's Smallville is one of the latter. The Justice League makes their grand entrance...Clark Kent, The Green Arrow, Flash, Aquaman and Cyborg are teaming up to save the cheerleader--wait, that's Heroes--well, at least there will be some saving the world involved. Woo hoo!

Bottom line: you gotta watch or TiVo it, then come back yonder and share your reactions about this super-packed episode.

*picture used courtesty of Kryptonsite.com

Read more »

What happened to R.L. Stine?

Back in middle school, R.L. Stine books used to be hot property. His Fear Street series were the talk of the classroom. My friends and I would trade books and desperately wait for the newest edition. Then there was the rise of his Goosebumps series and the Saturday morning TV show...and just like that he disappeared off the charts. Well, at least to me because I went to the 8th grade and thrillers just weren't cool anymore. I wonder if Stine has struck a cord with today's Radio Disney tweens? I checked out his site and it says he's bringing Fear Street back...best wishes with that Mr. Stine and thanks for making reading fun.

So what books did you love when you were younger, then totally abandon and remember like ten years later?

Read more »

NBC's Heroes the best thing for comics

According to Joe Quesada at Marvel Comics, Heroes was the best thing for comics in 2006. My response: umm...duh.

In an interview with Newsarama.com Quesada said:

Believe it or not, I think the best thing that happened to the industry was the TV show Heroes. While Civil War garnered a tremendous amount of mainstream press, Heroes was a complete and total validation of what it is that all of us in comics know and believe. Sure, you can watch Heroes and say, hey, it’s X-Men, or it’s Rising Stars, or wait a minute, that character is Rogue and he’s Kitty Pride, but none of that matters.

Hear me out for a second.

The reason that what we’re seeing on Heroes, though fantastically entertaining, isn’t unique to us, is because we’ve seen the Heroes model before. The maturing of the superhero concept happened over 15 years ago and it began with books like Watchmen and V for Vendetta.

Why is Heroes such a huge hit? Well, it’s easy. The mainstream audience is experiencing for the first time what we did when we read those great comics only they’re experiencing it for the first time. Much like myself who came back to comics after reading Watchmen and being floored by the possibility of the medium, John and Jane Q. Public are now looking at comics and comic characters in a whole new light, they’re 15 years behind us. But, that’s to be expected, we’re still a small medium and the exposure to the masses was tough for us. Now, I feel that Heroes may change everything if it continues with its great success. Couple this with Spider-Man 3 and you have a tinderbox of acceptance ready to explode!

Apparently Heroes has gone beyond saving the cheerleader and saving the world straight to saving the comic book industry. Good job guys!! You can tune into the next NEW episode of Heroes on January 22.

Hat tip to HeroeSite for the link to this interview.

Read more »

Blood and Chocolate

The producers of Underworld are at it again...

Blood and Chocolate is a romantic thriller that includes forbidden love, werewolves, and Oliver Martinez. Ooh la la! If this movie is even close to as good as Underworld was then I'll leave the theater satisfied. Blood and Chocolate is the story of teen wolf who must choose between sticking with the pack and being with the man she loves. This movie is based off a novel of the same name written by Annette Curtis Klause.

Who knows, maybe one day Hollywood will make Never Ceese by Sue Dent into movie...now that would be cool.

Visit Blood and Chocolate's official site.
Watch the trailer.

Read more »

James Cameron is back!

He's the man behind Titanic, Terminator and Dark Angel. He's the king of high-concept big budget Sci-Fi movies and he's ready to push the limits with two new movies slated for 2009.

Yahoo News posted this exciting bit of news yesterday:

Cameron is teaming up with 20th Century Fox to direct the sci-fi fantasy Avatar, a $200 million production that, according to the director and the studio, will be filmed in 3-D using an unprecedented combination of computer animation and motion-capture technology...The futuristic tale pits a human army, led by a paralyzed war vet played by Australian actor Sam Worthington, against an alien battalion.

To make matters more complicated, Worthington will have an alien love interest, embodied by Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl beauty Zoe Saldana.

"We're creating an entire world, a complete ecosystem of phantasmagorical plants and creatures, and a native people with a rich culture and language," Cameron said. "The story is both epic and emotional."

I don't know about you, but I can't wait to see this world come to life on the big screen. But Cameron's creativity doesn't stop there. The other movie, Battle Angel, as E! Online puts it, is "a gritty sci-fi tale about a 14-year-old amnesiac female cyborg on a quest to discover her identity while battling the forces of evil in Scrap Iron City." Wow, can I buy my ticket like now!

These films seem to have it all: action, adventure and alien love. Oh my!

Read more »

Children of Men

This movie looks really good and it opens for wide release on Friday. Here's the plot courtesy of IMDb.com:

In 2027, in a chaotic world in which humans can no longer procreate, a former activist agrees to help transport a miraculously pregnant woman to a sanctuary at sea, where her child's birth may help scientists save the future of humankind.

Children of Men looks like it has all the right ingredients: action, adventure and maybe a little romance between the two lead characters. Check out the website, it's wicked sweet and if the movie is anywhere as cool as the music playing on the page then I'm going to have blast watching this film.

Read more »