Review – Dragonslayer

Before today I don’t think I’d watched this movie from beginning to end since my days at sci fi cons back in the early 80s. Ah, memories. Apparently it isn’t such a great memory for star Peter MacNicol, as one of the IMDb notes indicates that he leaves this one off his résumé. Can’t say as I blame him, what with the Blue Lagoon hairdo and all. Otherwise, however, this isn’t bad for a bit of sword and sorcery. Sure, I found myself rooting for the dragon, but that’s just me. The picture is also of some minor historical importance, as it employed some innovative animation techniques and represented what at the time was a rare departure from kiddie fare by Disney (working here in cooperation with Paramount). Mildly amusing

Review – The Devil’s Mistress

Originally released as The Devil’s Whore, which I guess was too scandalous a title for the American market. This miniseries recounts some of the key political struggles of the English Civil War from the perspective of Angelica Fanshawe, a fictional, free-spirited and ultimately fallen member of the aristocracy. I was drawn in primarily by the opportunity to see Peter Capaldi play Charles I and Dominic West as Oliver Cromwell. Though it gets a little soapy in parts, overall it’s a good way to learn a bit about this important period in history. Mildly amusing

Review – Believe

I believe I should have watched something else. The box art made this look like something menacing might be afoot, but the story turned out to be some silliness about kids trying to track down a ghost. The “heartwarming” ending was particularly hard to take. This is one for the after-school special crowd. See if desperate

Another 21st century TV casualty

I like watching the Olympics. Or to be more precise, I like watching Olympic venues. Most of the sports don’t do much for me, but I like looking at the elaborate stadiums, pretty swimming pools and the like.

Or to be still more precise, I used to like watching the venues. This is my first once-every-four-years without cable or the dish, so I’m forced to limit my viewing to what the Web can provide. Which turns out to be not much. I tried downloading NBC’s Olympics coverage iPad app, but to no avail. It required a userid and password from my multichannel service provider, which of course I don’t have.

So here’s the latest elaborate corporate relationship: NBC has no problem screwing its broadcast affiliates by allowing viewers to watch directly over the Internet. Yet it still seeks to compel us to remain thralls of Comcast, Time Warner, or DirecTV.

I suspect this will work out okay for the network this time around. But I wonder about the state of the infoscape four years from now. How tempting might it become to pick up five or ten bucks per viewer for an app for people without MSPs? And how much more of key age and income demographics will become unreachable except via the net?

Review – Taste the Blood of Dracula

Who knew the whole mid-life crisis thing went all the way back to the Victorian era? Sadly for these three gentlemen of a certain age, their thrill-seeking takes the form of a Satanic ritual that revives Dracula (Christopher Lee). Which of course ends badly for them. Mildly amusing

Review – The Tunnel

The “found footage” horror subgenre seems to be evolving a bit. This one actually isn’t too terrible. A quartet of Australian journalists venture into the tunnels below Sydney in search of whatever might be making homeless people disappear. What they find is a trifle underwhelming, but it includes a good shock or two. Mildly amusing

Review – Creature (2011)

This got a wide release? It must have, because apparently it holds the record for worst box office for a movie that opened in more than 1500 theaters. Frankly, I’m surprised they bothered with theaters at all, as this has straight to video written all over it. A carload of nubile city kids ventures into the swamps, where they fall victim to an alligator man. See if desperate