All Articles by Cal Kemp

CONTEMPT Blu-ray Review

Posted: March 26th, 2010 at 10:31 am

One of the more fascinating moments in many auteur filmographies is the moment when he or she tackles their first big studio project.  Stepping (at least financially) into the Hollywood big leagues can be both wonderful and disastrous (and sometimes both).

Contempt was a film that, for Jean-Luc Godard, stands out as such a creative oddity; a studio-fueled adaptation of a 1954 novel (by Alberto Moravia, also known for the source material of Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Conformist) with big name stars like Jack Palance, Brigitte Bardot and (playing himself) Fritz Lang.  More after the jump:

DOLLHOUSE Season One Blu-ray Review

Posted: August 29th, 2009 at 3:48 pm

“Dollhouse” is a strange, strange beast. The peculiar brand of Whedon-fan loved the show sight unseen simply for its pedigree (I love you guys and I’m one of you guys, but you still scare me) while preemptively planning the method of protest that would be employed with the series’ inevitable cancellation.

The show finally hit the airwaves (or the internets as the kids call it these days; I think “Dollhouse” is the first television show I’ve watched entirely on Hulu) and the reaction of Whedonfan and non-Whedonfan alike was sort of a resounding “meh”. The show had a supercool premise: A top-secret facility that uses specially targeted individuals (or “dolls”) that can have their entire personality replaced depending on their specific assignment. Every week, Eliza Dushku effectively gets to play someone else and goes on a wacky adventure. It’s like “Charlie’s Angels” meets “Quantum Leap”. So what went wrong? My thoughts after the jump:

TORCHWOOD Season Two Blu-Ray Review

Posted: August 6th, 2009 at 7:05 am

Just in time for the five-part miniseries, “Children of Earth”, (also now available from BBC Worldwide on DVD and Blu-Ray), Torchwood’s second season (or, if you prefer the British parlance, “series”) has finally hit high-def and, if you’ve seen the series before, you should know that this is where it really, really gets good.

A spinoff (and anagram!) of “Doctor Who”, “Torchwood” goes for a decidedly more adult audience, but still manages to share a few characters, most notably in the series’ lead, Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman), who made his debut in the 2005 “Who” series. Leading a special task force assigned with protecting the Earth from fantastic threats, Harkness is joined by ex-policewoman Gwen Cooper (Eve Myles), medic Owen Harper (Burn Gorman), computer expert Toshiko Sato (Naoko Mori) and administrator Ianto Jones (Gareth David-Lloyd).  “Torchwood” shares a pedigree with American shows like “The X-Files” and (the post-”Torchwood”) “Fringe”.

Exclusive: Comedy Central Goes Back to the FUTURAMA

Posted: June 7th, 2009 at 4:00 pm

Good news everybody! An inside source has revealed exclusively to Collider that “Futurama” has been given a 13 episode order by Comedy Central. Though still technically a rumor at this point, word is that “Futurama” production offices have already opened and that casting is about to move forward.

This should be a welcome surprise to fans of the show who have already gone through the series’ cancellation and resurrection as direct-to-DVD movies.

Look for official word in the very near future. Though animation has a big lead time, I would guess on some kind of “Futurama” presence at Comic Con next month.

If you’re excited by the news, say it in the comments below!

TRANSFORMERS Take Burger King

Posted: May 13th, 2009 at 11:52 pm

One of the best things about living near Hollywood is the film shoots that take you completely by surprise. Sure, it’s a pain every now and then when major streets are shut down and you’re stuck in your driver’s seat, lamenting that movies were even invented in the first place. But mostly, it’s just something neat you catch out of the corner of your eye.

Case in point, I was headed through Chatsworth this morning when I spotted a big crew setting up some elaborate effects at a Burger King. (A note to those outside of CA, Chatsworth is roughly 25 miles away from Hollywood and also the exact distance it takes for local residents to truly not care about movies any more than any other American town. This is why studios do tons of test-screenings there.)

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