Screen Rant » Mike Wilkerson

24 Season 8: Hour 5 Review and Discussion

Mike Wilkerson — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 05:30:50 +0000

After a 4-hour extravaganza debuting the launch of another of Jack Bauer’s Worst Days last week, hour 5 arrived tonight. Tonight’s episode offered up some tantalizing detail and acting chops the likes of which I would pay to see in other programs I watch, and folks – this was only a bridge episode.

It’s clearest to me how all of the people that create 24 when I can watch an episode that’s supposed to just help fill in the gaps, and get the kind of satisfaction I did tonight.

Once again it’s time to take the safety off your .40cal H&K, pop-in your ear comm and strap in for a spoiler-ridden review of the fifth hour of 24 Season 8!

These reviews are filled with story-decimating SPOILERS. If you have not yet seen this evening’s episode, this review will ruin many aspects. ...

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24: Season 8 Hour 3 & 4 Review and Discussion

Mike Wilkerson — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 16:39:31 +0000

The last 24 hours of my life have been interesting. I have been responding to comments and emails of all kinds regarding my initial review and discussion of part 1 of 24‘s Season 8 launch. Last night’s offerings featured a cast comprised of both new and familiar characters and even more familiar goings-on inside the first 88 minutes. Would the second half of the premiere provide us with something more filling? Or were we locked into an all-too-familiar Jack-based fate? The answer came shortly after tonight’s second hour ended in the way that, as a one fan so eloquently tweeted:

“…I give tonight’s second episode Five Whirring, Bloody Buzzsaws Out of Five!”

Once again it’s time to don the covert manpurse, load your .40cal H&K, and strap in for a spoiler-ridden review of the third and fourth hours of 24 Season 8!

These ...

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24: Season 8 Premiere Review and Discussion

Mike Wilkerson — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 22:45:55 +0000

As 24, Day 8 arrives on Fox this evening, Jack Bauer fans are hyped up about several things:

1. Jack is back. Do we REALLY need to know anything else?

2. We’re set back in New York City, with a new pseudo CTU set up, electronified and ready to tangle with a new season of terrorist shenanigans.

3. Sure, we’ll see Kim Bauer, but we’ll also get a giant slate of acting talent that will help smooth out the waves of often-felt discord regarding Kim (and she wasn’t THAT bad last season).

4. Jack’s inevitable on-screen screams will be there at some point to kick-start our adrenaline.

Regardless of where the story, plot twists and injections of adrenaline take us this year, I and those of you that have been following 24 for years are jazzed, prepped and ready to take a ...

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Another Clash of the Titans Image

Mike Wilkerson — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 00:51:34 +0000

1981 was a very good year. We had the first De Lorean automobile (think Back to the Future) and MTV was launched (remember when it actually played music videos?). And Ms. Gallagher introduced our class to “Greek Mythology.” Why was she introducing her class to something “new” so close to the end of the school year? Because of a new movie launched back then called Clash of the Titans.

Well there’s a new version coming out next March and we have a new image from the remake for you below.

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An outstretched hand appears to be summoning “something”. What could it be. In the background the group watches in silent awe – a mix of anticipation and required patience.

My father bought us tickets to the original back in ’81 and we ...

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SR Pick – The Millennium Falcon Bed

Mike Wilkerson — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 16:41:41 +0000

Sleep is something that is totally underrated and something that most of the staff at Screen Rant surely don’t get enough of. The body simply needs time to rest, to dream – recharge.

When I was a boy in 1976 in the outskirts of Chicago, IL, I had a stagecoach bunk bed, and we’re not talking about some brown plastic, boneriffic pseudo-cowboy slumber rack. We’re talking real wood, wrought-iron, 4-wheeled ultimate badassery that made other kids WEEP when their parents said “not tonite, kiddo” to sleepovers.

Now, my wife and I sleep in a custom bed that my father and I made out of wooden cabinetry that offers some extra storage for my wife and (sometimes) I. It sits almost 4 feet in the air and there’s a custom trundle staircase and below us is an powered play house for our ...

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Captain America to Begin Filming in June

Mike Wilkerson — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 15:59:46 +0000

There are few characters that solicit emotion like the venerable Captain America.

His death last year was profound. It struck a cord in all “Cappy” fans that had a lasting impression – that is until he “returned” to once again fight those that would challenge liberty and freedom.

News on the celluloid/digital version of everyone’s favorite shield-wielding, flag-bolstering hero recently is also very popular. Production on The First Avenger: Captain America starts in June, 2010. It’s reasonable to think that casting should follow soon thereafter providing fuel to the always-popular casting discussion that ensues anytime news like this surfaces.

One has to also wonder – will there ...

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SR Pick [Video]: Terminator Salvation Deleted Scene Spoof

Mike Wilkerson — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:25:18 +0000

There’s never been any question on how I feel about Terminator Salvation. If there was a sample of hype-in-a-bottle failure, it had a McG label on it during the summer.

Our most recent Screen Rant Pick features a humorous and intrepid team of filmmakers that have released what I think could have been a significant (but fake and completely unofficial) additional deleted scene from Terminator Salvation.

The only thing more horrifying than the actual film were the plans to release a “Director’s Cut” DVD and Blu-ray, which had terribly thin features, and no viable commentary. What’s worse, the aforementioned Director’s Cut was a mere 3 minutes longer.

Note to McG: If only 3 minutes and boobs makes your film the definitive “Director’s Cut”, I vote for releasing what you showcased in theaters and then heading home to prepare another Charlie’s Angels entry.

When we ...

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A Cameron Cornucopia – The Value of James Cameron

Mike Wilkerson — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 02:37:29 +0000

We are on the cusp of the debut of one of Hollywood’s most anticipated releases in years, James Cameron’s Avatar. With concern about being the “most expensive movie in feature film history” and its likening to the wars overseas (essentially a movie-inspired take on the conquest of big oil over the small but feisty, native inhabitants of “Pandora”), there is a lot for Avatar and James Cameron to overcome even before its official release. Like most things however, one can find many potential answers from a review of the previous history of just about anything. Whether it’s the potential of a person to pay back money they might receive or the value to be reaped from a multi-million dollar blockbuster, answers can be found in what’s come before.

We’ll take a look at the movie history of director James Cameron to ...

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3D-Ready Projector Released by Optoma

Mike Wilkerson — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 01:40:13 +0000

3D hasn’t just been tapping on the glass of the future – it’s banging metal gauntlets on the living room windows of everyone. With James Cameron’s Avatar making its long-awaited debut next week, and the many movies over the last year that have made their 3D leap from big screen to smaller screen, the fundamental experience of 3D continues to make its march into your homes.

A company called Optoma has just announced the release of the HD66, the company’s first-ever 3D-ready HD home theater projector. This is the first product that’s being pitched as the perfect solution not only for 3-D home entertainment, but also specifically for gaming use.

Folks, the doorbell is thundering.

What’s often been the anchor that prevents the average home entertainment-phile from moving into the projector swimming pool is the price point for projectors. Options, ...

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Another Great Movie Resource: MovieClips.Com

Mike Wilkerson — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 01:55:16 +0000

With the advent of Hulu, the proliferation of YouTube, and the inclusion of every kind of applet, java-doodad and plug-in available to web users, you might wonder why another organization would step into the ring of digital media combat. Well, MovieClips.Com has done just that, is knuckled up and ready to rock.

Movie Clips has launched in beta with a catalog of more than 12,000 two-minute streaming clips from movies of all kinds.

What the site really has going for it are the licensing deals with six major Hollywood studios including 20th Century Fox, MGM, Paramount, Sony, Universal and Warner Bros. That is groundbreaking, and it means that the clips that you use and refer to online will still be there even after the studios find them because – well good grief, they agreed to let it be there.

All of ...

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Veteran’s Day: Movies Veterans Love

Mike Wilkerson — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:45:46 +0000

A day that every American should remember arrives today, the 11th day of the 11th month of every year. It echoes in perpetuity, providing all of us in the US with a continued wall of integrity, protection and honor via the many calls to duty that have been answered for hundreds of years.

Today is Veterans Day.

Have you taken the time out of your day to thank any of the many that have served? We here at Screen Rant wish to thank each and every man and woman that has given their time and often times their lives to ensure a more perfect union. Last year we had one of the most active threads in Screen Rant history, sharing the many great War/Military movies that dance in our memories this time of year. This year, we thought ...

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24 Season 8 Trailer Revs a Mighty Engine

Mike Wilkerson — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 01:05:31 +0000

Shortly after 9-11, there was a television series that took viewers on a weekly terrorist-fueled adventure. It was based “in real-time,” covering 24 consecutive hours each season with a cast that has made impressions of all kinds over the last eight years. Taking a “day at a time” had a completely new meaning. Whether they’ve weathered kidnappings, terrorist incursions, caravan ambushes or deadly nerve gas, we’ve all come to love the cast of “24″ for one reason or another.

Fox has released the new trailer for season 8 and after taking a gander, I have to say I am impressed. I’ve been marveling at the cast additions that have sprung up over the last several months and as usual, their shooting schedule is raucous as ever.

It’s time to rev the 24-love gas pedal again.

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Fun For Everyone Halloween Films – Part III!

Mike Wilkerson — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:01:25 +0000

The belfry has struck twice in the land of Fun For Everyone Halloween Films here at Screen Rant, and the third, final chime is preparing to strike!

Join the Screen Rant team as we detail this last entry for our 2009 Fun For Everyone Halloween Films listing and “chime in” with your own!

5. Edward Scissorhands (1990): I would love to see how something like Edward Scissorhands would go over in today’s society. Clearly, if the school he’d be attending observed any of today’s weapon policies, he’d be expelled instantly and have at least 4 interviews on news programs and talk shows before the week was over about how the institution is “denying his fundamental right to express himself.” Edward Scissorhands reminds me a lot of many of the movies that came out in the late 80s, up until 1990. ...

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Horror Plus Crime: Se7en

Mike Wilkerson — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 11:22:44 +0000

Welcome to the fourth installment in Screen Rant’s Halloween lead-up series called “Horror Plus” – a feature which showcases one film, dipped into the stapled-flavor of another genre to create something unique, something all its own.

Be sure to go back and review our first, second, and third installments in the series: Horror Plus Comedy: Shaun of the Dead, Horror Plus Sci-Fi: Alien, and Horror Plus Thriller: 28 Days Later. Also look for more that we hope to put up for you to read as we soon arrive at the end of October, 2009!

While we might consider “Crime” to actually be a piece of the horror genre as a matter of course, it’s important to remember many films feature something altogether different when it comes to “crime.” In this case we’re referring to the more ...

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Fun For Everyone Halloween Films – Part II!

Mike Wilkerson — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 22:37:29 +0000

We’ve really appreciated the great response we’ve gotten from our first set of Fun for Everyone Halloween Films and it’s time for the second of three great collections that will not only put a wintery chill up and down your spines, but a smile on your face and collective memory.

Read on below and don’t forget to tell Screen Rant about YOUR favorite Howling Heaps of Halloween Film Fun!

5. It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966): There are many people that will claim their personal soundtracks to include “Darth Vaders March”, or Kenny Loggin’s “Danger Zone” from Top Gun. Mine is much more commonplace: Linus and Lucy. It’s a track featured inside of all of the Charlie Brown adventures and naturally finds its way to this instant classic from 1966, It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. All of ...

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Fun For Everyone Halloween Films!

Mike Wilkerson — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 16:01:42 +0000

Halloween festivities here at Screen Rant continue, and while everyone first thinks of zombies and soon-to-be-eaten brains this time of year, we’ve also been busily looking through libraries of fun-for-everyone “Halloweenesque” movies and have come up with a first installment that is Howling Heaps of Halloween Film Fun!

It’s time to grab a should-be-for-trick-or-treaters bowl of candy, your favorite cold or warm beverage and head for your home theater to partake in some ghoul and ghosty-ridden Halloween Movie Fun! Read on below to revel in the first installment of Fun For Everyone Halloween Film Fun and afterward tell us what YOUR favorite Halloween-fun-time movie is in the discussion area below!

5: GhostBusters (1984): Nested in the many movies that made soundtracks a phenomenon in the 80s (Top Gun, The Lost Boys, et al) is the movie that answers the ...

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Baseball Films – A Lineup of Undeniable “Hits”

Mike Wilkerson — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 15:25:41 +0000

In 1982, I remember hoisting little Mike Sopocy on my shoulders after we’d won the Little League Championship Tournament in Schaumburg, IL. In those days, baseball wasn’t just something I participated in during the summer when we were off school, it was a life – complete with its own culture, vernacular and a dedication that continues to fuel my competitive juices.

This week, professional baseball teams from 4 metropolitan cities gather in a variety of arenas to determine who will go head-to-head in the final test of baseball greatness – The World Series – an event that always unveils itself in the crisp days of October.

There’s something about baseball that drives everyone. Whether it’s using baseball-riddled colloquialisms to describe your success or failure level on a workplace task; to describe how fast time is going during an event; or even ...

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FlashForward Week 3: Puzzle Pieces in a German Prison

Mike Wilkerson — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 02:29:21 +0000

The third week of ABC’s new FlashForward arrives inside the television review halls of Screen Rant.

The world view of what has taken place expands as we begin in a prison in Munich, Germany, where a long-term prisoner named Geyer and a guard begin a discussion that will change many lives and perspectives. What will we find out this time? Will we garner more puzzle pieces that are put in place or only glimpses at the 2 minutes and 17 seconds that had almost all of us spent frozen three weeks ago?

I’ll be reviewing this and future episodes of FlashForward in an ironic and incredibly-appropriate “stream of consciousness” format, giving you essentially what I’m thinking as the show airs. I encourage everyone to send feedback in regard to any of the points below and use this opportunity as a sounding-off ...

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FlashForward Leaps Into Week Two

Mike Wilkerson — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 04:06:44 +0000

The second week of ABC’s FlashForward arrives with knowledge, action and intrigue! Read on below as I detail my thoughts from this second episode and remember – if you missed this evening’s episode, there is a scheduled encore edition planned tomorrow evening. Same FlashForward time, same FlashForward channel!

I’ll be reviewing this and future episodes of FlashForward in an ironic and incredibly-appropriate “stream of consciousness” format, giving you essentially what I’m thinking as the show airs. I encourage everyone to send feedback in regard to any of the points below and use this opportunity as a sounding-off point to tell the Screen Rant team what YOU think about this second episode, of ABC’s FlashForward!

– Stunning Visuals That Open The Episode: As we enter this episode of FlashForward, we’re gifted with some astounding visuals of planet Earth, from just outside ...

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X-Men Origins: Wolverine Blu-ray Features Review

Mike Wilkerson — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 15:04:30 +0000

It’s no secret that X-Men Origins: Wolverine was supposed to be the first “Blockbuster film of summer” – and wasn’t. While it offered some visually striking scenes, and frankly, more Wolverine, there was a lot left that didn’t stoke the fires of love in the house of Wolvy fans everywhere.

While our coverage of the movie conveyed all you’ll need to know about the feature film in general, what follows is a special Screen Rant review of X-Men Origins: Wolverine‘s Blu-ray Special Features – an invasive, probing, look at the details NOT included on the regular DVD offerings, that promises to be at least as sharp as the steel tendrils that pumped adamantium into Wolverine himself. So like Wolverine, strap in, get prepped and ready as we crack the Blu-ray special features realm ...

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