Tin Man: Oz Reimagined For A New Generation Works Surprisingly Well!

The Good: Decent production values, Good character growth, Decent (enough) acting
The Bad: Moments of plot predictability, Moments of stiff acting
The Basics: The Sci-Fi Channel's mini-series Tin Man makes for a good reimagining of the Oz story and a decent enough DVD.


It might surprise my regular readers to note that I’ve never reviewed The Wizard Of Oz. In fact, it has been over a decade since I last saw it and I realized that I’ve seen and also failed to review Return To Oz more recently. In fact, for a person who lives near the birthplace of L. Frank Baum (Chittenango, New York), I’ve done pretty poorly in developing my Oz-credentials. In fact, the only thing Oz-related I’ve done in recent years was read the scandalous account of Dorothy in the graphic novel Lost Girls (click here for that review!). So, when my wife picked up Tin Man, I actually approached it with a very open mind and uncluttered by memories of what Oz and the stories of Oz were “supposed” to be.

For those unfamiliar with it, Tin Man was the Sci-Fi Channel’s reimagining of the Oz story with more contemporary characters, effects and concepts. The mini-series appears on DVD as a two-disc set with all three episodes and minimal bonus features. The smart thing about the film is that it is not a musical, it is not simply a modernized version of the story and it has a remarkably fresh feel to it.

DG lives in Kansas where she has dreams of a beautiful woman with lavender eyes. Her parents realize something is amiss, but before they can tell the truth to DG, soldiers from a distant place appear and DG is sent through a storm into the O.Z. (Outer Zone). While DG begins to explore the O.Z. and learn its secrets, her parents are captured by the sorceress Azkadellia, who is the merciless ruler of the O.Z. and is hunting for a mystical Emerald. DG finds herself in the company of Glitch, a former advisor to Azkadellia who was lobotomized to keep the secrets of his Sun Seeder weapon from him. She also meets Wyatt Cain, a former sheriff of Central City. Wyatt had been imprisoned for years in a chamber that forced him to relive the killing of his family over and over again. Released by DG, he becomes an ally of hers even as he seeks revenge for what was done to his family. The trio also encounters Raw, a being with telepathic abilities and whose species is being exploited by Azkadellia for that talent.

As Azkadellia learns the secrets of the weapon which will allow her to put a stranglehold on the O.Z., DG begins to learn her secret history. Discovering her adoptive parents are androids from the O.Z., DG goes in search of the Mystic Man, a brilliant man who knows the answers to all questions. Even though he has fallen to the edge of madness, he gives DG clues which set her searching around the O.Z. for the truth about her heritage, the Sun Seeder and her relationship with Azkadellia and the O.Z.! With her former Tutor, a shapeshifter, joining her band, the group sets out to learn DG's secrets and stop Azkadellia.

What Tin Man does so well is that it truly develops the story it is telling and characters it is using. DG might be an occasionally confused young woman, but she is surrounded by people who have talents she is able to use. Glitch, despite his memory loss, does know some places, concepts and even devices that DG has no experience with in our world. Similarly, Cain is both highly motivated and ruthlessly efficient and makes for a good tracker and guide. While Raw is fearful - legitimately so as his people have been enslaved by Azkadellia and are being psychically raped to help her twisted purposes - his ability to look into the brains of people allows him to help DG to unlock some of the mysteries surrounding her. Tutor continues to aid DG with magic and even the Mystic Man becomes lucid enough to point DG in the right direction for her quest.

But even though DG's journey is one where she learns more and more unsettling aspects of her past, she grows into a generally likable character. Still, much of the true emotional journey happens to Wyatt Cain. Cain is psychologically scarred from the beginning of his journey and as he watches Azkadellia's forces close in on them, most notably her agent Zero, who is ruthless and directly responsible for what happened to his family, Cain begins to grow beyond a simpleton out for revenge. Instead, he comes to realize that by adopting Azkadellia's methods, he risks becoming as bad as she is. The journey from revenge plot to aide to DG is a reasonable series of leaps and Tin Man develops his story well.

While the mini-series is not nearly as annoying as the musical was (how is it anyone in The Wizard Of Oz survived if they were all so clueless and powerless?!) there are some issues most contemporary audiences are likely to have with it. Glitch repeats a number of lines because, frankly, he's too braindamaged to realize he is doing it. But that joke both wears thin and is dropped unrealistically soon. Like characters who stutter losing their speech defect with unrealistic ease, Tin Man has Glitch recalling things too soon that ought not even be in his brain and not repeating things with any frequency in the latter half of the film. This is odd as there is no healing process for him.

What isn't as annoying is how the story develops. It is rather early on that the viewer learns the identity of the lavender-eyed woman and her relationship with both DG and Azkadellia. But what is most refreshing is the twist the story takes in the climax of the second part. When the viewer learns the essential truth about Azkadellia and DG's role in her ascent to subjugating the O.Z., the film takes on a surprising depth.

Also wonderful is the acting, or most of it anyway. Alan Cumming is amusing and subtly tortured as Glitch, Richard Dreyfuss lends credibility and power to the Mystic Man and Callum Keith Rennie is appropriately menacing as Zero. The one who steals the show is Neal McDonough as Wyatt. McDonough actually uses his piercing gaze and stony demeanor to flesh out the character of Wyatt and he is not menacing, but efficient. He makes Wyatt a plausibly damaged character who has buried his heart and at the moments he has to play emotionally connected, he does it expertly, like a man who has been detached from his feelings for a long time.

But the lead is Zooey Deschanel and she makes DG likable and smart enough that the viewer actually cares about what happens to her. Unlike many good-looking protagonists, Deschanel's DG does not trade on her appearance, she acts appropriately startled and shaken with each new revelation. But the strength that DG has to show at the film's climax is arguably made plausible by the force with which Deschanel speaks even in the earliest scenes of the film.

In fact, the only notably clunky acting comes from Blu Mankuma, who plays Tutor. He telegraphs far too much of his performance, so the character's surprises are anything but.

In Tin Man, the special effects are generally good and they enhance the story, as opposed to overwhelm it. CG effects, like Azkadellia's tattoos becoming flying monkeys, are pretty well-executed.

On DVD, Tin Man is light on bonus features, but does contain three behind-the-scenes featurettes and a gag reel. The featurettes basically have the cast gushing about the mini-series and how imaginative it is.

For those looking for an imaginative journey with good special effects and characters, Tin Man has it. It is a bit dark for children, but for young adults and adults looking for a fresh take on Oz, Tin Man succeeds.

For other fantasy world on film, please check out my reviews of:
Alice In Wonderland
Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone
Edward Scissorhands

7.5/10

For other television and film reviews, please check out my index page by clicking here!

© 2010 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Cables Unlimited Pink Power Cord PWR-1000-06P: Basic Function, Twice The Price!

The Good: Simple to use, Appears to work
The Bad: Very much not my style, Expensive for what it is
The Basics: Overpriced and pointless for most consumers, the Cables Unlimited Kabling Pink PC Power Cord takes a basic functioning device and tries to make it stylish.


Sometimes, I find myself baffled by some of what exists in the world. In some ways, I am a very simple person: I look for what works and I go with it. I would never, for example, attempt to make a fashion statement out of a power cord. But, when I went out looking at electronics products for a breast cancer write-off and found the pink flash drive (click here for that review!), I also found the shocking Cables Unlimited KaBLING 6 Foot Pink PC Power Cord. I was stymied, until I noticed the price tag: $11.95. When I saw that, I was just cheesed off: who would pay $11.95 for a computer power cord which ought to, at best, cost $4.99?! Not I!

Power cords are pretty ubiquitous devices and it is hard to get one wrong. And to be fair to the Cables Unlimited Pink Power Cord, my main beefs against it are that it is pretty ugly and it is twice as expensive as it ought to be. The 6 Foot PC Power Cord is an essential device to operating a personal computer and a few other electronic devices. The KaBLING Pink PC Power Cord is nice in that the ¼” in diameter computer power cord is actually six feet long, so the cord is a little longer with the two ends which connect the cord to the wall and to one’s personal computer.

The Cables Unlimited KaBLING Pink PC Power Cord is a standard computer power cord, save that it is sheathed in a pink plastic casing. The plastic casing is flexible which allows one to coil up the cord’s excess length or stretch it as needed. The plastic casing also acts as an insulator protecting the user from the current carried by the conductive power wires insider. Like all Cables Unlimited PC power cords I’ve encountered, the pink one shows no predilection toward becoming brittle and exposing the wires inside. The power cord was appropriately supple for unwinding, but seemed stiff enough to be durable. The plastic casing is waterproof, though it is never recommended one submerge a power cable. If something like coffee spills on the KaBLING Pink PC Power Cord, it may be wiped off with a damp cloth.

The six foot PC power cord ends with two hard plastic ends, both of which are cast in hard pink plastic. The male end is a standard three-prong North American plug with two flat tines and one cylindrical one which grounds the electronic device. The KaBLING Pink PC Power Cord terminates in a silver-colored (presumably nickel plated plug) which plugs into any three-prong outlet, which is good because any device using the PC Power Cord ought to be grounded to protect the components.

The “female” end of the KaBLING Pink PC Power Cord is a standard PC jack. This end might be less familiar to consumers, but it is surprisingly universal. Virtually every power supply in a PC has a male end which includes two pointed tines 5/8” apart (not flat like those on an electrical plug, more blockish) and a third between and below the others. It looks similar to a three-pronged plug arrangement, but the spacing is a bit different. The round cord terminates in a female end which is 2 ½” long, 7/8” wide and 5/8” tall at the terminus. This is a hard plastic end which has over an inch of gripping surface which allows it to press easily into the recessed male end in a PC’s power supply. Rather interestingly, I noticed that my Playstation 3 (click here for that review!) has the same power supply arrangement, which means the KaBLING Pink PC Power Cord would allow a Playstation 3 to plug into the wall as well. Because the female end is a universally-molded product, much like the male end will fit into any electric socket, the female end will fit into any 3-prong North American power supply unit.

It is worth noting that this is simply a power cord, designed to connect a computer or Playstation to a power supply. It has no surge protection capabilities and it is not intended to. It adequately carries electricity.

Beyond that, I found it pointless and overpriced. The KaBLING 6” Pink PC Power Cord is something most consumers will stick behind furniture and most people I know do not try to draw attention to their cords and cables. This, however, is one which is designed to be seen and that makes it a weird fashion statement. As well, unless one has painted or purchased their PCs casing pink, this will clash with most electronic devices. As such, it was very easy for me to not recommend it. The only thing that saves it from an “avoid it” rating by my standards is that it actually works and Cables Unlimited makes quality products, even if this one is frivolous and overpriced.

For other electronics support product reviews, please check out my reviews of:
Kyocera Travel Charger IV
DLO Power Bug
OrionGadgets Synch and Charge USB Cable For iPad

3/10

For other electronics reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2010 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.



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A Glorified After School Special With Real Actors: 28 Days

The Good: Competent acting, Good message, Reasonable characters
The Bad: Predictable in many places
The Basics: Occasionally obvious and often preachy, 28 Days is an attempt at a dramedy which fails to be either comedy or drama; overall a sense of it doesn't know what it wants.


It wasn't until I wrote my title line that I knew how I was going to rate the film 28 Days. Occasionally, it comes down to a coin toss for me. Not so with this film. Ultimately, I asked myself "Would I recommend this movie to a friend?" Well, no. The better question for me is: Would I watch this movie again given the chance?

Looking at the Good and the Bad, the instant question might be, "why not?" The truth is, this is one of those few less-than-scientific reviews I'll write: it was intangible. Moreover, when the best adjective I can come up with for the acting is "Competent," well, that's not exactly a ringing endorsement.

The truth is, 28 Days didn't grab me. I waited for it to, but it never did.

28 Days chronicles the experience of Gwen Cummings in a drug/alcohol/apparently other things, too Rehabilitation Center. After she ruins her sister's wedding, she is sentenced to rehab and 28 Days is supposedly her emotional journey from addict to independent. There's no more plot than that and that's fine; the film is rightly about a character. If you're looking for a film where things happen, this isn't it.

I say "supposedly" and I think that's probably the crux of my disenchantment with the film; it never seems terribly emotive to me. So, perhaps, it's designed to be an unbiased view of the rehab experience. That might have been a good idea, save the use of attempted humor throughout the movie. The film tries to be funny, it fails. The film tries to be dramatic (the most emotive moment comes near the end, so I shall not make it explicit) and succeeds in being predictable.

Perhaps I missed the point; maybe the film was trying to illustrate that rehab is just another experience; nothing extraordinary about it. If so, it worked on that level. The problem is, it wasn't terribly entertaining. So, if you're looking to calm someone's fear of rehab, this might be an effective tool. If you're looking for an enjoyable night of entertainment, look elsewhere.

Moreover, the film used its actors disappointingly. The usually wonderful Steve Buscemi is relegated to the background. Sandra Bullock is fine, but nothing extraordinary. That is, she meets the requirements of the role, but she seemed to add nothing to it. I feel I could have read the script and gotten the same performance, if you understand that; usually actors bring something to the performance. Not so here.

What the movie succeeds at is this: it perfectly illustrates the frailties of the human animal. The characters are people who make mistakes. They make them frequently, in fact. The characters often read as very real and that's a huge plus.

It is not, however, enough to save this film. Was I sorry I saw it? No. Will I watch it - or the almost certain sequel that's bound to come from it - again? No.

For other works featuring Sandra Bullock, please check out my reviews of:
The Proposal
Crash

4.5/10

For other film reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2010, 2001 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.



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Starting At The Beginning Of The Star Trek Novel Franchise With Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

The Good: Generally well-written, Interesting concept
The Bad: Adds little or nothing to the on-screen presentation, Fairly simple diction.
The Basics: With a main plot about as interesting as the film and bogged down with additional, irrelevant details, the novel of Star Trek: The Motion Picture flops.


When Pocket Books nabbed the license for the Star Trek franchise back in the late 1970s, they wanted to start high. There was still a lot of enthusiasm for the film Star Trek: The Motion Picture (click here for my review of the film!) and even then Star Trek was seen as a viable and profitable franchise worth exploring and exploiting. So, to stack the deck in their favor, Pocket Books began the novels with the novelization of Star Trek: The Motion Picture. To pen the novel, Gene Roddenberry was brought in to do the honors.

The novelization of Star Trek: The Motion Picture was a generally literal interpretation of the film and those who became excited a few years back over the Director's Cut of the film might want to note that when Robert Wise updated his Star Trek opus, it was mostly just for special effects. In other words, the few additional character elements that Roddenberry started with in the novel did not make it into the movie. And as a book, Star Trek: The Motion Picture is a rather average book, with unimpressive narrative techniques and diction, making for a read that begs the question "What is the point?" Yes, as a writer, I ought to be thrilled whenever there is a book instead of a movie, but when something begins as a movie and much of the thrill of the film is the visual spectacle, the book needs to add something truly significant to the film or else it flops. This is essentially what happens with this book of Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

Admiral James T. Kirk is on vacation when he receives a message from StarFleet Command (directly to his brain). A squadron of Klingon ships has been destroyed by a mysterious cloud and the bearing of the cloud now puts it on an intercept course for Earth. Springing into action, Kirk meets with Admiral Nogura to get command of the newly refit U.S.S. Enterprise and he is successful. Despite his recommendation for the Enterprise's new captain, Kirk replaces Captain Will Decker as captain of the Enterprise and he begins to assemble his new crew, by reuniting his old crew. Unfortunately for Kirk, a transporter accident kills his new science officer and his lover and the Enterprise limps out of spacedock missing a few key officers, most notably Spock who was on Vulcan attempting purge himself of all emotions when he telepathically received Kirk's thoughts and the message about the alien cloud.

After another mishap - this time with the engines - and the arrival of a particularly reticent Spock from Vulcan, the Enterprise moves to intercept the alien cloud, which now appears to be hostile. Gambling on the abilities of the cloud, Kirk and Spock manage to broadcast a friendship message to it and prevent the Enterprise from being destroyed. Penetrating the cloud with the Enterprise, they discover a structure inside and in their efforts to learn about it, they lose a new crewmember, one who is connected to Decker and whose return as a mechanical construct leads the Enterprise crew to realize they are in a struggle for the survival of Earth itself!

Gene Roddenberry makes explicit several ideas in the novel of Star Trek: The Motion Picture that were never concretely nailed down in the film. The most notable among these is in the backstory of Willard Decker. Decker is supposed to be the son of the crazed Commodore Matt Decker from the episode "The Doomsday Machine" (click here for my review of that episode!). Roddenberry details the inner voice of Will Decker quite well, declaring that he is a man who has struggled as a result of the way his father met his end. Kirk, in the novel, is characterized almost as his patron, looking out for Decker and his career to insure he got a fair shake of things and was not judged by his father's illness. Also, Decker and the Deltan navigator Ilia are granted more backstory and as a result, Decker makes more headway with the Ilia probe after she is replaced by V'Ger.

Roddenberry also uses the opportunity to flesh out his vision of the future a little bit better by writing some future history. The problem is that his mention of historical events yet to come are all in the context of technological advancements. So, for example, Kirk's StarFleet brain implant (senceiver) is given a bit of backstory where they were only used because the ethical mind-control implications of such technology had been eliminated, due to humanity learning a thing or two from a previously unmentioned Mind Control Revolt. As well, Roddenberry pushed a smart energy agenda by positing that putting a hydroelectric dam in the Straight of Gibraltar would generate enough electricity to fuel Southern Europe and Northern Africa.

If this seems like a divergence from the story (and the review) you are correctly gathering what the crux of my problem with the novel Star Trek: The Motion Picture is. The film plodded along as a terribly boring - not nearly cerebral enough - visual effects film and when the Director's Cut came along, it just changed the visual effects. In the novelization of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Roddenberry adds more setting and a little more on the characters. But mostly, it is divergences from the main story that distract from what the book is supposed to be about.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture is not about filling in the gaps between our times and the time of Star Trek, it is about learning about new life forms and preventing them from obliterating Earth. How does the history of the senceiver make that easier, more comprehensible or more relevant? It doesn't, truly. And because these technologies and concepts are not revisited outside this book, they stagnate and seem like unnecessary embellishments. This would not be the case if this had been a truly original universe the reader was being introduced to. But instead, the Star Trek universe had been pretty well established by Gene Roddenberry on television. Those picking up the novel did not need new technologies and history lessons that were included ought to have benefited the story or been used as future precepts. Instead, they were largely abandoned or neglected outside this work.

And there is nothing of significance added to the characters of Kirk and Spock which was not shown in the film Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Their story and the story of V'Ger's advance upon Earth are virtually identical to the movie, so there is little to entice readers into this book.

Add to that, this is not the most sophisticated read. It is written to be accessible to anyone with a middle school education and is not impressive in the prose in any way. Roddenberry has a decent ability with the dialogue, but beyond that, his descriptions are fair at best and the characters are sublimated to the story and this is not the greatest Star Trek plot ever written.

It is, however, a start and while I never thought I would do this, readers might want to save some time, pop in the film Star Trek: The Motion Picture and just start with novel #2 for some original material!

For other Star Trek franchise books, please check out my takes on:
Imzadi By Peter David
Star Trek Omnibus 1 By Marv Wolfman
I, Q By Peter David and John de Lancie

5/10

For other book reviews, be sure to visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2010, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.



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Star Trek The Next Generation's First Surprise Grand Slam Is "Too Short A Season!"

The Good: ACTING!, Character, Plot, Direction
The Bad: MINOR effects flaws
The Basics: A shockingly great episode, "Too Short A Season" tells the story of one man attempting to make up for the wrongs of his past in a hostage situation.


The first season of Star Trek The Next Generation is much-maligned and I shall confess, I am often guilty of speaking poorly of the season. The truth is, it's a fine season and as far as television in general goes, there have been far worse first seasons of shows. My thought on Star Trek The Next Generation is usually that if one accepts the first season as "Philosopher Kings In Space" then you'll have little to complain about. Still, most people have somewhat lowered expectations for any first season episode of Star Trek The Next Generation.

So "Too Short A Season" often comes to viewers and fans alike as a surprise. The bigger shock is that the episode appears on so few Star Trek The Next Generation Top Ten Lists. The truth is, it's the first home run Star Trek The Next Generation hits. Watching the episode for the first time in fourteen years, I was knocked out by the quality of the episode.

"Too Short A Season" sees the Enterprise taking aboard a special ambassador to handle a hostage situation on a distant planet. The ambassador is none other than Admiral Jameson, the man who successfully negotiated with the Mordan leader Karnas. Karnas now finds the hostage situation out of his hands and Jameson arrives, quite old, quite tired, and quite arrogant that he can solve the problems.

Admiral Jameson is full of surprises, though. The first, which becomes apparent early on, is his ability to walk. The ancient admiral has been bound by a wheelchair (well, a futuristic one without wheels) for years and he displays an ability to walk early on. But more important, Jameson has a relationship with Karnas, which involved the hostage situation Jameson aided with forty years before. It seems Karnas was unwilling to negotiate with Jameson for anything but weapons in the past and in a breach of protocol, Jameson secretly provided them to get the hostages released. To keep the Prime Directive intact, Jameson also gave Karnas' enemies the same weapons, plunging Morden II into forty years of civil war. Now that the war is over and Karnas is in power, he wants to take on the man he blames for the problems of his planet: Jameson.

The only real problem with "Too Short A Season" are minor problems with the make-up. Admiral Jameson undergoes a rather incredible transformation and there are moments when his make-up appears less than convincing. A younger person plays Admiral Jameson, so the process by which he is made to appear older is occasionally sloppy. Not sloppy enough to rob this episode of a perfect rating.

The first remarkable aspect of the episode is the acting. Clayton Rohner is amazing as Mark Jameson. All of the minor faults with the make-up are overcome by the strength of Rohner's acting. He pulls off Jameson perfectly with the convincing subtle twitches of the old man through the vigorous presence he portrays in the action sequences. Without a doubt, the make or break aspect of the episode is Rohner who not only saves a potentially lame idea, but propels the episode with a vitality that makes the episode shine.

Similarly, guests Marsha Hunt and Michael Pataki are wonderful, as Jameson's wife and Karnas, respectfully. Pataki returns to the Star Trek fold, as he played the Klingon first officer in "The Trouble With Tribbles" and this is a vastly more subtle role for him. Patrick Stewart does his usual amazing job playing off Rohner with class and dignity that keep the characters stable when Jameson - by the script - could have been quite erratic.

The characters move and motivate this episode. Jameson, specifically, is the cause and the solution to the action of "Too Short A Season." His past is only the beginning of the episode and what makes him tick, what he truly desires, is what the episode is truly about. But equally important is Karnas, who appears at first as a simple villain with little depth. Instead, it is revealed that despite his grudge against Jameson, he is passionate about the people of his planet. He is a wonderful foil to Jameson. And playing off both of them is Picard, who has little development in the episode, but whose stability makes a great deal of sense.

The director deserves much credit here. Without Bowman's guidance, this episode could easily have ended up as one of the worst. Instead, his vision brought a shaky idea into a solid script into a sharp, telling episode that has Star Trek The Next Generation accomplishing what it ought to, without sacrificing its soul. "Too Short A Season" IS "Philosopher Kings In Space" but it doesn't feel that way. That's the wonderful thing about it and the reason this episode is one of the best Star Trek The Next Generation episodes ever produced and easy for non-fans of science fiction or Star Trek The Next Generation to enjoy.

[Knowing that VHS is essentially a dead medium, it's worth looking into Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Complete First Season on DVD, which is also a better economical choice than buying the VHS. Read my review of the debut season by clicking here!
Thanks!]

9/10

For other Star Trek reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2010, 2008, 2002 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.



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Vaguely John Cho's Sulu, The Burger King Sulu Toy Flops!

The Good: Talks, Detailing on shirt
The Bad: Annoying bobble-head look, Low playability, Low collectibility, Annoying talking function, Hardly looks like John Cho.
The Basics: A poor representation of Hikaru Sulu, the Burger King Sulu toy is a real dud, despite having a neat sound chip.


A few months back, two Star Trek toys arrived upon my desk that I did not ask for nor want. The first was the Scotty Burger King toy (click here for that review!). The second was the Sulu Burger King toy.

Basics

Used to promote the 2009 film Star Trek (click here for my review of it!), Burger King released a series of small inaction figures in their kid's meals. Each figure, like Sulu, is outfitted with a voice chip which repeats a phrase from the film.

The Sulu figure is 3" tall, an 1 1/2" wide and 1" thick. It is made entirely of hard plastic. This Sulu figure is more a caricature of Sulu, much the way Bobblehead toys are; the body is small and the head is huge. The figure is molded to include a neutral-expressioned Sulu with two tiny hands and two feet firmly planted. Sulu's shirt is molded with the textured pattern like the costume in the film. Sulu has a rather low center of balance, making him virtually untippable.

Sulu's head, looks only minimally like John Cho as Sulu and the figure is poorly colored for the Asian character.

Accessories

Sulu's hands are not molded to hold anything, so he does not come with any accessory.

Playability

The Burger King toys, like Sulu, have exceptionally low playability, especially considering that they have no moving parts.

On the back of Sulu's yellow shirt is a small button. When depressed, John Cho's voice comes out a small speaker in the back of Sulu's head! The Sulu Burger King toy repeats the line "Warp three, sir!" each time the button is depressed. The toy is loud enough that is may be heard in a bedroom-sized room clearly and the voice chip clearly uses dialogue from the actual film. Because it only says the one phrase, Sulu's novelty wears thin quite quickly.

Collectibility

Sadly, it seems I am in the minority of my subculture in loathing the Burger King toys as my peers seem to be enthusiastic to have new swag to collect. Originally given free in Burger King Kids meals, the Sulu toy now is available on the secondary market in the five dollar range. That seems to be the price these sort of toys top out at for the first decade (mint in package, of course) and I suspect within the year they will be unloaded in the dollar range loose. As time goes by, buyers will need to be careful to be sure the Sulu they are buying has a battery that has not degraded and a sound chip that still works.

Overview

The Sulu Burger King toy is annoying and barely looks like John Cho, despite having a sound chip with an authentic bit of dialogue. Between the low playability, poor likeness and the generally cheap nature of the toy, it is easy to stamp this with an "avoid it!"

For other Star Trek (2009 movie) swag, please check out:
2010 U.S.S. Enterprise Hallmark ornament
Star Trek: Countdown
Star Trek: Nero

1/10

For other toy reviews, please be sure to visit my index page!

© 2010 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.



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Funky, Punky, Rock, Tina Turner's "Break Every Rule" Is Decent '80s Pop-Rock (Still)!

The Good: Decent production, Good vocals, Musically interesting (in a retro-80s way).
The Bad: Short, A bit overproduced.
The Basics: Another strong album by Tina Turner, Break Every Rule is blessed with having songs that are wonderful that were never hits for the performer.


As my musical exploration of the works of Tina Turner concluded, I found myself not feeling the disappointment I anticipated when I chose Turner as my March Artist Of The Month. That anticipated disappointment sprouted up because I knew Turner was more of a performer than a musical artist. When I first learned that, I was tremendously disappointed. Now, I just listen to her music for what it is. And I have come to appreciate some of her albums more than I anticipated I would.

The reason for this comes down to what makes Tina Turner unique. Unlike other musical performers, like Celine Dion or Barbra Streisand, Turner is not limited much by vocal range. So, while Celine Dion stays almost exclusively in her soprano register, Tina Turner roams the scales and she does it quite effectively and with a fluency I would argue had been unheard since Ella Fitzgerald leapt onto the music scene. Turner is in pretty exclusive company with her ability to traverse the scales and registers almost effortlessly and that skill is evident rather frequently on Tina Turner's 1986 album Break Every Rule.

With only eleven songs, occupying 50:42 on c.d., Break Every Rule exemplifies the bulk of Turner's career as a performer. Turner did not write or co-write any of the songs on the album, nor was she involved in the production of Break Every Rule in any way. Turner does provide her awesome vocals, which became exemplified by the hit singles “Typical Male” and “What You Get Is What You See,” but she did nothing else for the album. As well, because Turner was not involved in the creation of the music, it is hard to argue that this was necessarily her musical vision as opposed to what the studio wanted from her. Fortunately for music buyers, Break Every Rule is worth the buy because the best tracks are not the ones found on the numerous Tina Turner compilation albums on the market.

Musically, Break Every Rule is almost the archetypal 1980s pop-rock album. The songs are driven by keyboards and guitars with noticeable percussion and a strong sense of production. There is not a missed note or scratched guitar string on this album, instead, it sounds heavily polished, danceable and generally there are recognizable tunes to the songs. The guitar and keyboard combination makes many of the songs good “crankers,” the type of song fans insist have to be blared to get the full effect of the musical force, but the truth is the guitars do the work just fine at any volume. Songs like “”What You Get Is What You See” and “Overnight Sensation” work quite well because the songs are melodic and clearly have a musical sense to them, even if they do have a polished sound that sounds much more like the music was created by a mixing team than a collection of performers on instruments.

Vocally, Tina Turner does an exceptional job of presenting all of her lyrics clearly. She is smooth and soulful on “Two People” and energetic and ironic on “Till The Right Man Comes Along.” As mentioned before, she has incredible range which she brings to bear on “Break Every Rule.” She can go high and melodic, as she does on “Break Every Rule” (the single), or throaty and deeper, as she does on the single “Break Every Rule.” She even does such a good vocal interpretation of David Bowie on “Girls” that I instantly knew she was performing a Bowie song when I first heard the album!

Lyrically, Break Every Rule is largely about relationships, both finding love and keeping it. I found the superlative song to be the virtually unknown “I’ll Be Thunder.” Turner presents a compelling love song with lines like “There’ll be a storm one night / By you will find my place of hiding / We’ll watch the lights like children / Leave the fortress hand in hand / I’ll be thunder / You’ll be lightning / And we’ll collide on dry land“ (“I’ll Be Thunder”). Turner might not have written the lines, but she presents lyrics with an awesome sense of imagery that the listener may both relate to the visuals her voice evokes as well as the emotions she conjures up.

As well, she sings about the absence of love extraordinarily well. When she sings “When the beat of the drum has faded / The show comes to an and / The stage is clear and loaded / And the highway calls again / I stand and watch the lights go down / In the afterglow of your love / Dreamings all I'm guilty of / Everyday I'm playing tough / But read my mind” (“Afterglow”), anyone who has lost love will be able to relate. Turner makes everything sound personal, so it’s almost a surprise that she did not write any of the lines.

While most of the songs are universal expressions of emotions virtually every listener can understand, she sings about being in the music industry on “Overnight Sensation.” On that song, she makes music of the promises she was made as she got into music. Hearing “And all through the badlands / Rocking on the bandstands / It's so hard in the barbands / When there's no one there who understands / And Lady Luck will pass you by and she will never say yes / You're gonna be an overnight sensation / Gonna be an overnight success” (“Overnight Sensation”), one can almost hear every young ingénue being swindled. Still, the song sounds good and Turner makes it rock.

Ultimately, Tina Turner makes everything sound good on Break Every Rule and this is a wonderful, if obvious pop-rock album. Those who like pop-rock from a strong female vocalist will likely find something to like on this one!

The best song is “I’ll Be Thunder,” the low point is the unmemorable “Paradise Is Here.”

For other works by Tina Turner, please check out my reviews of:
What You Hear Is What You Get: Live At Carnegie Hall - Ike & Tina Turner
The Best Of Ike And Tina Turner – Ike & Tina Turner
The Very Best Of Ike & Tina Turner - Ike and Tina Turner
Private Dancer
Tina Live In Europe
Foreign Affair
Simply The Best
What's Love Got To Do With It? Soundtrack
Wildest Dreams
Twenty Four Seven
All The Best (2-disc version)
Tina! Her Greatest Hits

7/10

For other music reviews, please be sure to check out my index page by clicking here!

© 2010 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.



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Buttered Popcorn Jelly Beans From Gimbal's Are Not Bad, But They Aren’t The Best . . .

The Good: Good flavor, Taste does not fade, Economically and environmentally smart packaging.
The Bad: Waxier taste than Jelly Belly's comparable flavor.
The Basics: A good flavor of Gimbal’s jelly beans, Buttered Popcorn is good, but a bit waxier than serious beanophiles will want!


As I made my way through the many flavors of Gimbal’s Gourmet jelly beans, I found myself feeling lucky to be enjoying a new old favorite in the buttered popcorn flavor. The “new old favorite” comes from the fact that I was spoiled by Jelly Belly’s Buttered Popcorn flavored jelly beans (click here for that review!). That was, just as it was for many people, my first experience with truly distinctive, original flavors of jelly beans. Unfortunately for Gimbal’s, their buttered popcorn flavor bean is not as richly flavored and the feel of it being a unique taste experience is certainly contradicted by the fact that I have tasted something that is both similar and better. Even so, the Gimbal’s Buttered Popcorn jelly beans are good. They just aren’t the superlative jelly bean – either in this flavor or by Gimbal’s. Even so, for those looking for an affordable way to stock up on Buttered Popcorn jelly beans, Gimbal’s easily fits the bill.

It is worth noting that Gimbal's Buttered Popcorn jelly beans are roughly analogous to the Buttered Popcorn Jelly Bellys, though the coloring is slightly different and the taste is different as well. I do not know if Jelly Belly or Gimbal's came first, but Jelly Belly is certainly better known, at least in Upstate New York. Conversely, Gimbal's jelly beans are less expensive and that is a nice bonus for those bulking up on them with the ten pound box.

Who needs ten pounds of Buttered Popcorn flavored Gimbal's jelly beans? Anyone who loves popcorn, but does not enjoy the hassle and noise of a hot air popper will like these! This flavor is a good rendering of buttered popcorn flavor, though it has a more waxy taste than the competitor. The ten pound box is the ideal way for such people to stock up on these jelly beans, at least from an environmental and economic standpoint.

Basics

Buttered Popcorn is a flavor of Gimbal's jelly beans. Gimbal's jelly beans are approximately one half inch long by one quarter inch wide and they are roughly bean-shaped. These little candies are marketed to taste precisely like Buttered Popcorn and they live up to that fairly well, though having had the Jelly Belly flavor, this is a notable step down. Even so, these jelly beans have a buttery, slightly salty taste that is distinct.

Buttered Popcorn flavored Gimbal's are available in a wide array of quantities, but the largest quantity available is the ten pound bulk case. This is a decent-sized box with a plastic lining and while some might wonder why anyone would need a ten pound box, I say anyone who enjoys both a quiet house and likes the flavor of buttered popcorn; the two ought not to be mutually exclusive! The Buttered Popcorn flavor is one that is good and a ten pound case is likely last for months. Kept properly, the Buttered Popcorn jelly beans keep for a year even in this level of bulk.

The Buttered Popcorn Gimbal's is easily differentiated from other Gimbal's jelly beans by its opaque white shell with yellow spots. There are no other white or yellow jelly beans in the assortment which look even mildly like this flavor.

Ease Of Preparation

These are jelly beans, not silently popping popcorn in a hot air popper! Preparing them is as easy as opening the box and popping one (or several) into your mouth. In the case of the ten pound box, one might want to put them in a candy dish of some form as opposed to always going into the box. Then again, they may be consumed right out of the box with no adverse consequences.

Taste

What initially surprised me most about the box of Buttered Popcorn Gimbal's jelly beans was how opening the box did not yield a strong scent. Unlike some other flavors of Gimbal's jelly beans, opening this box smelled only vaguely like melted butter and mostly it just smelled waxy and sugary. The scent to this jelly bean is hardly distinct.

On the tongue, Buttered Popcorn is waxy, sweet and slightly buttery. The flavor is mildly that of buttered popcorn and while the buttery – real butter, not margarine! - flavor comes out, the taste of popcorn is almost entirely absent. Instead, there is a waxy taste and without much coaxing, this flavor transforms on the tongue from buttery to sugary and waxy without ever fully making the consumer feel like they have just eaten popcorn in a different form.

That said, the taste of this jelly bean is consistent and delicious. Unlike some which fade to generic sugary, the Gimbal's Buttered Popcorn is consistently sweet and true to their original flavor. They do not get better or worse when eaten in bulk, but one gets a consistent flavor bean after bean!

Nutrition

Again, these are jelly beans, so anyone looking to them for nutrition is bound to be disappointed. Jelly beans, even Gimbal's jelly beans, are not a legitimate source of nutrition. These are a snack food, a dessert, and are in no way an adequate substitute for a real meal. A serving is listed at thirty-seven beans. This means that in a single serving, there are 140 calories, which is 12% of your daily recommended intake.

The thing is, Gimbal's jelly beans are not as bad as they could be in the nutrition area. They have no fat and no protein, but for those who have ever dated a Vegan, these are Vegan compliant because they contain no gelatin! They have only zero percent of the daily sodium with 10 mg and they are gluten free! The main ingredients are sugar, corn syrup and modified food starch, so it's not like this is an all-natural food, but they could be far, far worse. As well, these candies were not produced on machines with peanuts or other nuts and they are egg, trans fat, dairy and egg free!

Storage/Clean-up

Gimbal's jelly beans have a shelf life of approximately one year and I have yet to run across a stale Gimbal's (though arguably that is because of my lack of experience with them). They remain freshest when they are kept in an airtight container (the bag in the bulk box is sufficient if it is kept closed) and they ought to be kept in a lukewarm environment. Storing them in hot places or in an intimate location is likely to make the beans stick together and become gross. Kept in a cool, dry place, the beans retain their flavor perfectly.

As for cleanup, unless one allows the Gimbal's jelly beans to get hot to the point that the waxy coating on the bean melts, the dyes on these do not bleed or denature, so there is usually no cleanup necessary, not even washing one's hands after eating them (always wash your hands before eating Gimbal's jelly beans; that's just common sense). I have never had Buttered Popcorn Gimbal's jelly beans stain anything.

Overall

Gimbal's Buttered Popcorn jelly beans are a good flavor, but they are not one I am able to rave about, mostly because they are a little waxier than I would like. Most consumers will find them to be an affordable way to have an intriguing jelly bean experience, but they are robbed of perfection by their imprecise taste.

For other Gimbal's jelly beans reviewed by me, please check out:
Orange 'N' Creme
French Vanilla
Spicy Cinnamon

7/10

For other food reviews, please be sure to visit my index page for other reviews!

© 2010 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.




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The Muppet Christmas Carol: A Good Family/Christmas Movie!

The Good: Decent music, Good themes, Fun, Muppets!
The Bad: Light on DVD bonus features, Very simple
The Basics: A fun family film, The Muppet Christmas Carol retells Charles Dickens' classic A Christmas Carol in a nonthreatening, non-dreary way!


Right before Christmas last year, my wife and I sat down for The Muppet Christmas Carol and the biggest surprise for me is that it has taken me this long to write about it. True to its title, The Muppet Christmas Carol is Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol reimagined with Muppets occupying many of the roles. This musical presentation features Michael Caine as Ebenezer Scrooge and has Gonzo, the Muppet, narrating as Charles Dickens.

Ebenezer Scrooge is a miser in London who does not care about Christmas, only money. While he keeps the firm he runs freezing cold (so cold that the rats he employs complain about it), he is quite well-to-do and takes advantage of the good-natured Bob Cratchit (Kermit the Frog). But on Christmas Eve, Scrooge is visited by his dead business partners who warn him of the coming of three ghosts. The ghosts show him the world - past, present and yet-to-come - and how Scrooge has become more loathsome and less loving. This opens Scrooge to the potentials of change and fellowship with his fellow man.

The story has been around for almost two hundred years and The Muppet Christmas Carol is a fun twist on it, with Muppets singing and dancing their way through it. The songs are fun and energetic and the sense of movement will entertain children, if not reawaken the child within adult viewers.

That said, the film is simple, obvious and direct. While the music is fun, none of the tunes are particularly memorable. As well, while Michael Caine does fine acting opposite the plush Muppets, many of the other human characters seem to miss things like eyelines or realistic reactions with their puppet counterparts.

And while Caine seems to be having fun with his Muppet counterparts, it seems to take him a while to warm up to the concept of the film. This is to say that at the beginning, it is not so much that Scrooge is cold-hearted or cruel, the characterization comes much more from Caine being stiff in his deliveries. It is only late in the film, when Scrooge is transformed, that Caine seems appropriately comfortable in the role and with his costars.

Gonzo's presentation of the Christmas Carol as "Charles Dickens" works to help the flow between songs and make the story more accessible for younger audiences. The humor in his scenes works nicely.

On DVD, The Muppet Christmas Carol comes with only previews for other Muppet movies, as well as a brief featurette on the making of The Muppet Christmas Carol, as this was the first Henson cinematic endeavor after Jim Henson's death.

Even with its little eccentricities, The Muppet Christmas Carol is wholesome family fun which tells a timeless story of putting people before profit. Even when it is predictable, it is hard to argue with that.

For other Christmas movies, please check out my reviews of:
The Nightmare Before Christmas
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
Batman Returns

6.5/10

For other film reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2010 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.



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More Mediocre Than Extraordinary, The DLO Power Bug Is A Simple Device.

The Good: Easy to clean, Easy to use, Durable
The Bad: Not grounded, Expensive, No surge protection.
The Basics: If you're shelling out for an iPod and need a way to recharge it on the road, the DLO PowerBug offers an unfortunately risky way to do it.


Because of my wonderfully weird aunt, my house is currently rolling in the iPod products. The latest free acquisition which has arrived on our doorstep was a pretty cool 16 GB iPod Nano (click here for my review!) which has since gotten a decent amount of mileage around the house as my mother, brother, wife and I all find reasons to play on it at various times. With so many of us using it, the battery has gotten appropriately taxed, but we were fortunate (or so we thought) because my aunt shipped with the iPod a DLO PowerBug with the iPod Nano.

Usually, one may easily recharge an iPod by connecting it to a computer through a USB Port with the Apple connector for iPods (click here for that review!), which comes with each and every iPod. That connector is a very specific device because of the unique port on iPods, but it does connect to a USB port (the U stands for universal and it is truly a worldwide port type). The Digital Life Outfitters PowerBug (DLO29983) Charger is just the plug which connects into the iPod Connector and a wall socket (American) electrical outlet. Yes, the DLO29983 is intended specifically for the recharging of iPod products, but it doesn't even come with the connector to bridge the power supply with the iPod. This, however, does come in handy when one is using one's USB ports on their PC or laptop for other purposes and one still wants to charge their iPod or when one it traveling with the iPod.

The DLO PowerBug Charger is a 2 1/2" tall by 2" wide by 1 1/2" thick plug which is like shaped generally like an egg, but then split lengthwise. The flat side has the actual plug prongs and the round side, which faces the user, has a light to indicate when the PowerBug is connected to a power supply. The little green light is bright enough to be visible in virtually all levels of lighting and it is a nice way to assure users that it is working. After draining the iPod Nano to the point where it came up continually with warnings, it took six hours to recharge the battery to full capacity using the DLO29983 Charger.

To protect the PowerBug, the two-pronged plug on the PowerBug folds into the unit. When flat in the slots in the backside, the prongs are protected and unbendable. Also, because we've been using this in the common kitchen, I discovered that the DLO Powerbug's plastic casing is very easy to clean. If one were to, for example, spill soda on the face of this, it would wipe off easily with a damp cloth.

Unfortunately, the care that DLO puts into protecting the PowerBug is not put into protecting the iPod product one might connect the PowerBug to. Instead, users are recharging their expensive technological toy with an ungrounded recharger. I had a real scare when we lost power here, but I managed to unplug the PowerBug before the power came back on and surged through the socket. This was unsettling for me, but it is also an unacceptable risk for those who cannot be around (or awake) while one is recharging using the PowerBug. It makes the device far less practical when one has to carry a surge suppresser with the DLO29983 in order to actually protect their iPod products.

Ultimately, when I learned that people are compelled usually to pay $25.00 for this simple, ungrounded charger, it became absolutely impossible for me to recommend it. Anyone who relies upon their iPod for entertainment will want to protect their hardware much better than this offers.

For other iPod products, please check out my reviews of:
iPad (64 GB)
iPod Touch
iPod Shuffle

4/10

For other electronics reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2010 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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