Charlie's Angels DVDs

Charlie's Angels on DVD complete list:

Complete First Season
Complete Second Season
Complete Third Season

Pop Artifact! Aurora "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" submarine model

"Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" on DVD.

Vintage DC Comics House Ad

See the Best DC Comics Sites on the Web.

Review roundup: "X-Men: The Last Stand"

Here's what folks are saying:

Christian Science Monitor: ...I think one reason the film series, as well as the "X-Men" Marvel Comics, are so popular with young people is because of its central metaphor. From Superman and Batman on down, quite a few superhero or antihero comic figures have led double lives, and this split appeals particularly to teenagers still experimenting with who they are. The mutants in "X-Men" are an exaggerated version of this split: Not only do they have superhuman powers, but they are vilified by humans for having them.

... suppose it's asking too much of Ratner to impart some kind of visionary flourish to the proceedings. But without it, these comic-book movies all tend to look the same. The "heart" of the story - the choice these mutants must make about their mutancy - rarely comes into play.

Miami Herald: The Last Stand doesn't play out as a grand final adventure (although, much like a Rolling Stones farewell tour, there's some doubt as to whether this really is the end). Instead, it's a disappointing chapter in what until now has been a highly entertaining, even thought-provoking series.

...Ratner seems incapable of infusing his overly busy story with nuance, depth or the wonderful wry humor that connected us so thoroughly to these characters in the first place, and so their sacrifices never register. Singer's films were peppered with small moments that felt epic. Ratner's film just feels awfully small.

Detroit Free Press: ...the rich theme gets lost in a mass of new characters and director Brett Ratner's preference for the visceral over the emotional.

Belfast Telegraph: X marks the spot... where director Brett Ratner (Rush Hour) reduces the X-Men to a soulless, brainless clatter.

The third and final film in the series reduces the epic battle between good and evil to a barrage of computer-generated special effects and slow-motion trickery.

Washinton Post: Displaying none of Singer's finesse or judgment, the new director, Brett, aka "Ratner," makes a hash of the story and characters his predecessor brought to such complex, sympathetic life, delivering a pumped-up exercise in mayhem, carnage and blunt-force trauma.

The Guardian: Against the odds, this third X-Men movie (inevitably referred to as the last in the "trilogy", to torture completist-geeks into buying the DVD) turns out to be a lively and likeable picture - a fun summer blockbuster, which is capable of being scary and even rather affecting.

Knight Ridder: ...die-hard fans of the popular series...can forget the chat-room anxiety generated when their hero, Bryan Singer, director of the two previous ``X-Men'' movies, handed over the reins of the popular franchise to the more paint-by-numbers Brett Ratner (``Rush Hour''). (Singer moved on to just one lone guy in tights, directing ``Superman Returns.'')

True, Ratner is no Singer, but in ``The Last Stand'' he delivers the goods with gusto.

See the Best X-Men Sites on the Web.

Lost: Is this Jack?

Making a big hubbub on the "Lost" message board over the past 24 hours: Is this guy--one of the two Portuguese-speaking guys in a snowbound electromagnetic anomaly monitoring station depicted at the end of the season finale--Matthew Fox, the same actor who plays series regular Jack?



Looks a lot like him, but the part is credited to an actor named Len Cordova.

There's a nice comparison/contrast post here.

See the Best Lost Sites on the Web.

Pop Culture Roundup May 26, 2006

Deal alert: Amazon has 42 percent off sale on "Futurama" and "Simpsons" DVD box sets.

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Reggae/ska pioneer Desmond Dekker has passed away.

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Papercutz "Nancy Drew" graphic novels are selling like hot cakes in book stores and are set to become even more widely available soon.

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A 17-cut CD of songs inspired by the works of writer Neil Gaimin is set for release soon. It includes tunes by Tori Amos, Thea Gilmore and others.

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Sci.com teases the next season of "Lost."

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DVD: Perry Mason Season 1, Vol. 1 due July 11

This set features the first 19 episodes from season 1 (1957-58) on five discs. No word on extras.

It's available pre-order from Amazon now.

DVD: Amazing Stories: Complete First Season due July 18

This set will include all 24 episodes of the Steven Spielberg produced-anthology show,which aired from 1985-87. No details, yet, on extras.

It's available for pre-order from Amazon now.

Top 10 comics, DVDs, CDs, action figure May 26, 2006

Via Amazon:

Comics - Graphic Novels:

1. V for Vendetta
2. Y: The Last Man Vol. 7: Paper Dolls
3. The Complete Calvin and Hobbes
4. The Complete Peanuts 1959-1960
5. Watchmen
6. Serenity: Those Left Behind (Serenity)
7. Hell in a Handbasket
8. Superman Returns
9. X-Men: The Complete Age of Apocalypse Epic, Book 2
10. X-Men: The Complete Age of Apocalypse Epic, Book 3

DVDs

1. High School Musical
2. Deadwood - The Complete Second Season
3. Kingdom of Heaven (4-Disc Director's Cut)
4. Boston Legal - Season 1
5. Underworld - Evolution (Widescreen Special Edition)
6. The 4400 - The Complete Second Season
7. M*A*S*H - Season Ten (Collector's Edition)
8. Final Fantasy VII - Advent Children (2-Disc Special Edition)
9. The Boondock Saints (Unrated Special Edition)
10. The West Wing - The Complete Sixth Season

CDs

1. Taking The Long Way - Dixie Chicks
2. All the Roadrunning - Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris
3. Stadium Arcadium - Red Hot Chili Peppers
4. We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions - Bruce Springsteen
5. Living With War - Neil Young
6. Surprise - Paul Simon
7. Pearl Jam - Pearl Jam
8. Home - Dixie Chicks
9. 10,000 Days - Tool
10. St. Elsewhere - Gnarls Barkley

Action Figures

1. South Park Figure: Cartman
2. South Park Figure: Hip Hop Cartman
3. South Park Figure: Kenny
4. South Park Figure: Big Gay Al
5. Marvel Legends Gift Pack Spider-Man classic Feasome Foes Gift Pack
6. The Corpse Bride 12" Fashion Doll
7. South Park Figure: Officer Barbrady
8. Batman Begins Action Cape Batman Figure
9. 12" Robocop Battle Damage
10. GI Joe Valor vs. Venom Ninja Cobra Imperial Procession

DVD: Incredible Hulk Complete First Season out July 18

Here are the details:

"...Don't make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry." Mild-mannered research scientist David Banner (Emmy nominee Bill Bixby) finds he must offer this heroic warning after exposure to gamma radiation transforms him into the terrifying and enraged Hulk (Lou Ferrigno). Bursting from comic book pages into this 4-disc DVD set, the Complete First Season of The Incredible Hulk boasts all ten heart-pounding episodes, plus a preview episode from Season Two. Must-see bonus materials include the two original feature-length films, an introduction from The Hulk himself (Ferrigno), and in-depth commentary from producer Kenneth Johnson. Intense. Immense. Incredible!

The set is available for pre-order from Amazon now.

"X-Men: The Last Stand" international character posters

Pop Artifact! Spirit mask

Vintage DC Comics House Ad

Pop Culture Roundup May 25, 2006

Download a new Beatles beatleg podcast.

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Booksteve remembers the 1970s "World's Greatest Superheroes" comic strip.

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PCL Linkdump celebrates the Hip Hypnotist.

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Hembeck remembers Freddie (and the Dreamers).

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Lost Clues: Season 2 Summary

If you haven't been watching reruns or DVDs, here's a brief refresher on what happened last season.

Key events:

* A group of passengers on Oceanic Flight 815 crashed on a seemingly deserted island. They can't contact the outside world and nobody has come to rescue them.

* The island is inhabited--by a group of ragged-looking folks called the Others and a lone Frenchwoman named Danielle who claims the Others abducted her daughter, Alex, many years ago. Alex, now an adult, is an Other but is sympathetic to the crash survivors.

* The Others abducted three children and several adults from Flight 815 and are responsible for killing several survivors. They briefly kidnapped crash survivor Claire, who was pregnant at the time, but she was able to escape.

* The crash survivors discover an underground "hatch" on the island, which is inhabited by another lone person, Desmond.

* This hatch, and others like it discovered later, are part of the Dharma Initiative, a mysterious research project created by the Hanso Foundation--an organization set up by a Danish industrialist. The crash survivors learn all this via a sketchy "orientation" film and another orientation video found inside separate hatches.

* Inside the first hatch is a button connected to a large computer complex. Apparently, this button must be pushed every 108 minutes to keep huge electromagnetic forces in check. Briefly unleashed, these forces are what caused the crash of Flight 815. Or that's what Desmond believes.

* Desmond has been pressing the button for three years. He was on a round-the-world boat race when a storm brought him to the island.

* Desmond was rescued by a man named Kelvin, who was then manning the hatch and pressing the button. Kelvin orients Desmond to the hatch and button, convincing him of its importance to humanity.

* Having found a new person to press the button, Kelvin plans to abandon the hatch and leaves on Desmond's sailboat, which he'd secretly been repairing. Desmond finds out about the plan and accidentally kills Kelvin in an angry struggle. But he goes back to the hatch and continues pressing the button, convinced it's necessary in order to keep the world safe.

* Before his sailing trip, Desmond was a member of the British military and he'd been imprisoned for "not following orders." He also was estranged from his girlfriend, Penelope Widmore. Penelope's father, apparently a very wealthy and influential person, pays Desmond off to stay away from his daughter. Desmond enters the sailing race, which is sponsored by Widmore, wanting to win and show up the elder Widmore.

* Once the crash survivors discover the hatch, Desmond also abandons it. He's missing for some time but eventually we learn he tried to leave on his sailboat. However, he was unable to sail away from the island. All his attempts at navigating away just brought him back.

* At the end of season 2, the button isn't pushed and the interior of the hatch starts to warp and destruct due to the electromagnetic forces. Desmond inserts a key into a switch designed to "terminate" the hatch station/project. There's a huge white out and, we're led to believe, the hatch and all those inside (Desmond and crash survivors Locke and Eko) vanish or are destroyed.

* The Others force Michael, the father of one of the kids they've abducted, to deliver them four more of the crash survivors: Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley. Michael also must free one of the Others, "Henry Gale," who the crash survivors are keeping in captivity. Michael frees Henry, killing two crash survivors in the process, and brings the four requested survivors to the Others. In exchange, the Others give Michael his son, Walt, and a boat with directions on how to leave the island.

* Michael and Walt leave in their boat. The Others send Hurley back to the rest of the crash survivors with a message: Don't try to retrieve Jack, Kate and Sawyer and stay away from the Others' part of the island.

* The Others plan to take Jack, Kate and Sawyer "home" with them. Where/what that means we don't know. We also don't know why they chose these three specifically.

* At the very end of the season, we see a pair of men stationed in a place that's very, very cold (one of the poles?) using equipment to monitor electromagnetic disturbances. They speak Portuguese. A piece of equipment registers something--most likely the destruction of the hatch--and they pick up a phone calling... Penelope Widmore. Finally, they tell her, they've pinpointed the location she's been looking for. So, does she somehow know Desmond was in the hatch and about the Dharma Initiative?

Other key points:

* There's a mysterious web of connections connecting several of the crash survivors. Many seem to have been "fated" to be on board Flight 815.

* Several 815 passengers have killed people in the past.

* Numerous strange phenomena take place on the island: People have visions, prophetic dreams, encounter things that shouldn't be there.

* A "monster" made of black smoke has been seen a number of times. It's been called a "security system" and seems to somehow evaluate whether people are a threat or not.

* The name Widmore pops up a few times. The pregnancy test Sun uses was manufactured by the company. There's also a building with a Widmore sign during a scene in London during one of Charlie's flashbacks. And Henry Gale's balloon was manufactured or sponsored by Widmore.

What we learned about the Others:

* They are wearing disguises to give themselves a "desert island" look--false beards, raggy clothing, etc.

* Henry Gale is evidently their leader, or a leader.

* They seem somehow part of or related to the Dharma Initiative but we're not certain how.

* They studied Walt, who seems to have some sort of psychic powers, and subjected him to "tests." When handing Walt over to Michael, Henry said they "got" more than they'd ever imagined or hoped from Walt. What they were after isn't known.

* They know the full and "real" names of those on Flight 815. And they have a particular interest in Jack, Sawyer, Kate and Hurley.

* They characterize themselves as "good." In the past, they've abducted crash survivors because those survivors were "good people." Other survivors, they feel, aren't as good.

* Desmond and the Kelvin refer to the Others as "hostiles."

What we learned about the Dharma Initiative hatches/facilities:

* The plane crash survivors find the Swan, where Desmond has been holed up.

* Ana Lucia's group of tail section survirors find a hatch called the Arrow station.

* Eko and Lock find the Pearl station, which evidently has been set up to spy on the other hatches.

* Claire was kept in a medical hatch by the Others. Later she, Kate and Danielle find it.

* The Others have what appears to be a fake hatch. Just a door with a rock wall behind it.

* Locke sees several hatches depicted on a map on the interior of the blast door.

* The Other's also have a dock with a sign on it reading Pala Ferry.

* The pneumatic tubes used by those stationed in the Pearl hatch just pop up in the middle of nowhere in the island, the notebooks inside unread.

Character connections:

* Hurley owns the box company Locke worked for.

* Hurley and Locke both worked for Randy (at the Mr. Cluck's and the box company, respectively)

* Hurley, Libby and Locke's mother all were patients in the same mental ward.

* Jack meets Desmond as a doctor and later on the island.

* Shannon and Boone's father was killed in the car accident that injured Jack's future wife, Sarah.

* Sawyer is waited on my Kate's mother at a restaurant.

* During the first Gulf War, Sayid is apprehended by U.S. troops under the direction of Kate's step-father.

* Ana Lucia worked for Jack's disgraced doctor dad, Christian.

* Sawyer and Jack's dad drank together.

* Locke did a home inspection for Sayid's love, Nadia.

* Eko meets a psychic who is the father of a girl who allegedly drowned but came back from the dead. The psychic is the same man Claire met with in season 1, and who gave her a ticket for flight 815, saying it was vital that she take the flight.

* The Other, Alex, is the daughter of crazy French lady Danielle.

* Libby gave Desmond the boat he was on.

* Kelvin Inman, the hatch man who rescues Desmond, looks exactly like a CIA agent Sayid met during the first Iraq war. However, the man Sayid met was named Joe Inman. Twins? Same guy?

Repeated lines:

* "See you in another life." Said by Desmond to Jack in episode 2.1 and said by Dave (Hurley's imaginary mental ward fried) to Hurley in episode 2.18. Said by Desmond to Locke at the end of season 2.

* Both Desmond and Henry Gale claim they were on trips "around the world" when they ended up on the island.

* An attorney representing Micheal's ex-wife tells him "For someone who wants his son back so badly, you don't seem to know much about him." The Others' Miss Clue/Klugh later tells him essentially the same thing.

* Many, many times throughout the series, characters say "don't tell me what I can't do." In the season 2 finale, Eko tells Locke "don't tell me what I can do."

Strange experiences:

* Kate sees a black horse on the Island. Sawyer sees it with her.

* Shannon and Sayid have visions of Walt.

* Eko and Locke exchange dreams.

* Hurley has visions of his mental ward pal Dave.

Outside references:

* In "The Wizard of Oz," Henry Gale is the name of Dorothy's uncle. At the end that story, the Wizard flies off in a balloon.

* Uluru/Ayer's Rock: Locale of the psychic Rose visits in episode 2.19.
More info:
Ayers Rock is a large magnetic mound large not unlike Silbury Hill in England. It is located on a major planetary grid point much like the Great Pyramid in Egypt.

...The Aborigines believe that there it is hollow area below the ground, and that there is an energy source that they call 'Tjukurpa' the dream time. The term Tjukurpa is also used to refer to the record of all activities of a particular ancestral being from the very beginning of his or her travels to their end. Anangu know that the area around Ayers Rock (Mount Uluru) is inhabited by dozens of ancestral 'beings' whose activities are recorded at many other sites. At each site, the events that took place can be recounted, whether those events were of significance or whether the ancestral being just rested at a certain place before going on.

* Pala Ferry. According to this message board posting, Pala is a fictional place created by Aldous Huxley. More from Wikipedia: "Island" is a novel by Aldous Huxley that was first published in 1962. It is the account of Will Farnaby, a cynical journalist and would-be poet who is shipwrecked on the fictional island of Pala. Island is Huxley's utopian foil to his dystopian "Brave New World." Is the "ferry" a boat, a helicopter, plane, some mode of inter-dimensional transport? Where the hell does it go?

* Hurley discovers and Sawyer reads "Bad Twin," a novel-in-manuscript by "Gary Troup," a passenger who died in the plane crash. This novel has actually been published and is commercially available in the "real world." It contains references/characters that may provide hints about events on the show.

* Other books shown: "A Wrinkle in Time," "Watership Down," "Turn of the Screw," "Are You There God, It's Me, Margaret," "The Brothers Karamozov," "The Third Policeman," "Lancelot," "A Hood Crow," "High Hand," Rainbow Six," "An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge" and "Dirty Work," "Our Mutual Friend." Many of these books contain themes similar to those explored on the show and may provide hints, or at least extra flavoring, to what's going on in the series.

* The Lost Experience was an ongoing multi-media promotion/game including Web sites, TV ads, etc., that provided hints re: the Hanso/Widmore aspects of the show during this past summer. More info on this front here.

Songs played during season 2:

Mama Cass Elliot - "Make Your Own Kind Of Music"
The Uniques - "My Conversation"
Drifters - "Up On The Roof"
Billy Joel - "Easy Money"
Dave Matthews Band - "Stay"
Staind - "Outside"
Skeeter Davis - "The End of the World"
Patsy Cline and Lorreta Lynn - "Walking After Midnight"
Pousette-Dart Band - "Fall on Me"
The Kinks - "He's Evil"
Perry Como - "Papa Loves Mambo"
Glenn Miller - "Moonlight Serenade"
The Duke Ellington Orchestra - "Just A-Settin' and A-Rockin"
Perry Como - "Catch A Falling Star" - [Plays on Claire's mobile]
Seeds - "Pushin' Too Hard"
Les McCann - "Compared to What"
Otis Redding - "These Arms of Mine"

People killed by crash survivors:

* Jack shot the U.S. Marshall to put him out of his misery.

* Kate killed her abusive step dad.

* Sayid killed his commanding officer and perhaps others as a soldier/interrogator.

* Sawyer killed the man he mistakenly thought was responsible for destroying his family.

* Ana Lucia killed the man who earlier shot her, Shannon and the Other, Goodman.

* Eko killed two Others and, during his drug-dealing days, many more.

* Jin may've killed people for Sun's father. He at least beat people up.

* Michael killed Ana Lucia and Libby.

* Charlie killed the Other, Ethan Rom.

Unanswered questions:

* What's up with the illness the Others, Desmond and Danielle all mention and the vaccine meant to prevent it?

* Why was Libby in the mental ward with Hurley and why did she conceal this fact from him? Was she really a clinical psychologist? Was it arranged that she give the boat to Desmond?

* On the "orientation" film, the speaker introduces himself Dr. Marvin Candle. In a separate orientation video Lock and Eko later discover, the same man calls himself Dr. Mark Wickmund. What's up with the name change?

* Did Jin father the baby Sun is carrying?

* What are we to think of the enormous bird that swooped down and seemed to say Hurley's name?

* What is the brick structure on the hill above the Other's camp? It looks like a battlement of some type.

* And what about the enormous four-toed foot statue Sayid, Jin and Sun see?

See the Best Lost Sites on the Web.

Pop Artifacts! Flash Gordon buttons

More Flash Gordon.

Vintage DC Comics House Ad

See the Best DC Comics Sites on the Web.

DVD: "Teens Titans," "The Batman" season 2 sets due out Sept. 26

Details from Warner Home Video:

Teen Titans: Complete Second Season
Dangerous enemy or lifelong friend? That's the question of Season 2 when Terra, a free-spirited teen with awesome earth-manipulating powers, rolls into town. As a skilled fighter, she makes a powerful addition to the Titans' fight against crime, and as a fun-loving, no-holds-barred hero, she jives instantly with their team chemistry. But the Titans aren't the only ones interested in recruiting the new girl. Robin's arch nemesis Slade is on the prowl for an apprentice, and the combination of Terra's volatile powers and personal vulnerability make her a perfect target for his twisted plans. Trusting this newcomer could prove to be a fatal mistake for the Teen Titans! Throughout 13 action-packed adventures from the hit TV series (and Bombastic Bonuses too), this Deluxe 2-Disc Edition is earth-shattering entertainment!

The Batman: Complete Second Season
Riddle me this: who's the latest villain to set his sinister sights on Gotham City? Riddler, of course, and only The Batman has the answers to stop this enigmatic evildoer. In these 13 action-packed episodes from the hit TV series, Gotham's greatest protector stumps Riddler and other favorite villains like Joker, Mr. Freeze and Penguin, and his obsession with justice earns the trust of up-and-coming police detective Jim Gordon. When Gordon offers The Batman a tentative alliance - "Just help me make this city safe for my daughter" - another piece of the legend falls into place! Swoop onto this Deluxe 2-Disc Edition with All Season 2 Adventures plus Exciting Extras. See justice done as no other hero can deliver!

See a Complete List of TV Shows on DVD.

New "Superman Returns" picture

Dig the hair.



See the Best Superman Sites on the Web.

Pop Culture Roundup May 24, 2006

Sony plans to do an animated film based on Marjane Satrapi's graphic novel "Persepolis".

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Scholastic plans a series of graphic novels based on R.L. Stine's "Goosebumps" books.

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You'll like Check Out the Cool Wax.

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Apparently "X-Men 3: The Last Stand" features a surprise after the final credits.

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