TheRetroCritic

From executive producers J.J. Abrams and Jon Favreau, Revolution was a post-apocalyptic sci-fi series from 2012 set after the power inexplicably goes out in the world leaving it in a permanent blackout as America's leadership is completely reshuffled and a resistance grows. Revolution presents a big concept with a lot of potential and the previews for this show looked like a lot of fun. With the involvement of Abrams and the usually reliable Billy Burke, this certainly ticked all right boxes. The Pilot episode, directed by Favreau himself, introduces us to the main characters and this new post-power world rather well as America finds itself divided with the North-Eastern coast being run by intimidating dictator Monroe (David Lyons). When scientist Ben Matheson (Tim Guinee), who was involved in the mess that led to the power being turned off, is killed by the Monroe Republic militia and his son Danny (Graham Rogers) is kidnapped, his headstrong daughter Charlie (Tracy Spiridak

I toy around with clay, card and wire to bring you the cheapest version of the Fringe opening titles sequence out there.

Going back to The Lost Boys halfway through watching Season 1 of 24 was a bit of a jarring move, granted, but all this admittedly kick-ass Jack Bauer superhero stuff just made me miss the good old evil Kiefer Sutherland I knew and loved back in the day. Was never a huge fan of The Lost Boys, but I remember watching it and enjoying it fine. Seeing it now, I think I "get" it more. Not that it's a particularly hard one to figure out but I found it was much more tongue-in-cheek than I recalled. Corey Haim avoids the annoying-80's-movie-kid syndrome found in most kid-friendly flicks of the time and actually does a good job. The Corey Feldman/Jamison Newlander vampire-hunting/comic-book-selling duo are a lot of fun and the vampire gang, led by a terrific Sutherland and an especially ridiculous-looking Alex Winter, are so OTT they're inherently enjoyable. Director Joel Schumacher (on a good day here) is clever enough to have the always great Dianne Wiest and the e

Now this is what I'm talking about! After a frankly dull first season and an uneven (if promising) second here we finally have a focused, genuinely well-made, wholly entertaining season which benefits from being a little darker and a little less all about that boring old beach we've grown so accustomed to! It's an island. There's sand. We get it. Again, a lot of the wrongs of season 1 are put right and now the show finally finds itself with not only a great villain, dodgy "Other" leader Benjamin Linus, but interesting main characters you actually do care about (...and Kate). Everyone's backstories are fleshed out a bit more and interlinked with each other in clever ways, characters face real conflicts and have an immediate purpose. This time, these guys are shown no mercy. Long gone are the days when Charlie would worry about peanut butter, long gone are the boring "lets-all-sit-around!" episodes: no, this is the season where the smo

Those familiar with my less-than-glowing review of Lost's first season already know my stance on that snooze fest. Whoop-dee-freakin'-doo! We're looking down a hole! That was TOTALLY worth a million episodes! Grrrr... Anyway, onto Season 2 and, you know what? I have to hand it to the show: it learns from its mistakes. A heck of a lot of my criticisms are tended to in a superior second season which not only has an awesome subplot (which amazingly does deliver!) and things actually happening (almost) every episode but it introduces two of the show's best ever characters and disposes of some unwelcome cast members. It all begins in the "hatch" found at the end of the first season and although not nearly enough is done with the whole subplot that goes with it, it provides a new equilibrium for our colorful crew of troubled assholes with good hearts to struggle with. A lot of time is spent introducing the Anna-Lucia character, played by notorious tough-co

You all know the plot of 2004's TV phenomenon Lost by now: plane crash lands a group of flawed characters on a seemingly deserted island, weird things start happening, silly backstories aplenty, lots of talking, unlikely twists... A J.J. Abrams co-creation and the producer's first hit show since Alias , Lost was a re-invention of the whole Robinson Crusoe, stranded-on-a-desert-island scenario into a Twilight Zone -esque mystery but with a large ensemble. People either loved it or hated it and, to this day, you'll still find uneven opinions in regards to it. This first season boasts a whopping 25 episodes which makes binge-watching a chore more than a treat but, by the time the fourth episode kicks in with its nifty twist, you should find yourself, at the very least intrigued by Lost. The main characters include Jack Shephard (Matthew Fox), the goody-two-shoes hero doctor, James "Sawyer" (Josh Holloway), the Southern con-man hunk, Kate Austen (Evangeline Lill

Following a hugely popular show like Lost was always going to be tough but who knew that J.J. Abrams had one more trick up his sleeve? From the very first scene of the Fringe pilot you know you're in good hands as a bunch of passengers on a plane (so far so Lost) start melting... Yeah. You guys just wait till you get to the zombie baby episode. What Abrams has skilfully and seemingly effortlessly managed to do is single-handedly reinvent the FBI cop series into a sort of sci-fi/50's B movie/CSI hybrid which on paper really shouldn't work but actually does just that, and beautifully so. It might take a bit of time for Fringe to grow on people but it's pretty clear for anyone having followed it from the very beginning that this is the natural successor to X-Files . Not that aliens are at all involved but in terms of sheer serious out-there-ness and cleverness of concept, Fringe is right up there and has a definite sense of fun to it not to mention lots of creati

Many have tried before or since the Indy franchise to recapture the magic and the fun of the old adventure serials with efforts like Romancing The Stone , The Phantom , Doc Savage or Alan Quartermain and the Lost City of Gold but all have come short of Spielberg's classic trilogy. So what makes Indiana Jones so successful? For one thing you've got the iconic casting of Harrison Ford as the archaeologist-turned-adventurer which feels like the role Ford was born to play: cool, witty, always on-the-ball, occasionally goofy, strong, good-hearted, a ladies' man...he's the ultimate action hero. He's Han Solo with a whip and leather jacket, can't go wrong with that. Then you've got the Lucas/Spielberg/Williams trilogy of movie masterminds, a team which, in the 80's anyway, were at the top of their game. Fresh from Star Wars , Lucas knew how to produce a catchy flick, The Berg could direct a masterpiece in his sleep and John Williams' scores were ab

There's no easier target for spoofs than old sci-fi B movies, especially if Ed Wood is somehow involved. With their cheesy effects, cheap costumes and sets, below par actors, ridiculous dialogs and storylines: they're great but of course they're riddled with comedy gold. It is surprising that there aren't more films like The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra out there...so lets just be happy this one exists! Where to start? From the offset, it's pretty clear that Larry Blamire's film will not take itself seriously for a second: you get the overuse of the word "science", a material called "atmospherium", aliens in silver jumpsuits, a plastic fish monster, a half-woman half-forest animals character named Animala, obvious, redundant dialogs, unmotivated dancing...and a talking, walking, sarcastic skeleton. What more could you possibly ask for? Fans of Ed Wood and old B movies will be in heaven here as the silliness escalates to a titanic battle be