Tin Man

I watched the first installment of SciFi's Tin Man
(http://www.scifi.com/tinman), and while there's a gap between vision and
execution, the vision is grande. It's a mish-mash of Depression-era(ish)
steampunk(esque) vibe.

Richard Dreyfus rocks. The guy who plays the Tin Man / Kane is pretty
solid. Some of the other acting is a bit stilted and feels disconnected
(and faking shows), but I'm hoping it gets there as the series progresses.

I'm wondering, though, if this messes with American McGee's version of Oz
ever seeing the light of day?

Beowulf

On one hand, I'm at a loss as to what to write about Beowulf, the recent all-CGI film from Robert Zemeckis. But that's not going to stop me from figuring out what to say on the fly.

But before I over think it (and take you with me), I genuinely enjoyed it. Overall.

And I think it's important for the film to do well.

The film is based on the Old English epic poem (author unknown) created sometime between the 8th and the 11th century.

Based.

At least it follows the framework of titular hero Beowulf fighting Grendel, Grendel's mommy, and a dragon. And it's well-extended by writers Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary, the former of whom I'm a big fan.

Why's the film important to me?

Because it's pushing technology in a big way to further narrative.

Beowulf is the next foray in "performance capture", the evoluton of "motion capture", technology used to capture realistic movement and translate it to animation. Unlike the coarse-grain capture of MoCap technology, performance capture aims to catch the nuanced movement of film acting. And it aims to put quality acting back into animated films -- not replace the actors (an active agenda of some film makers).

Zemeckis, James Cameron, and Steven Spielberg are all working on their versions of performance capture technology. A film like Beowulf is gutsy, because it pushes technology when it may not be received well commercially. Think about how Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within tanked at the box office, caused the shut down of that studio, and set back CGI-only development for arguably 5 years. (By the way, I actually like The Spirits Within.)

Beowulf is probably a more accessible mass market offering (no Japanese animist philosophy), and it is pretty well done, though there are some miss-steps (let's just say, "Naked fighting is laughable", and go from there).

And the production qualtiy is a bit uneven. I saw the film opening night on IMAX 3D. And while it's probably true the film was "designed with IMAX in mind", it wasn't designed exclusively for IMAX; so it does a bad job of violating some of the IMAX rules (no quick pans), and some of the 3D implementation is gimmicky ("Throw the coins at the audience!"), rather than servicing the film, and ends up getting in the way of the film.

You can also see (as in a lot of animated films or video games), more time was spent in some places than others (Angelina Jolie is lovingly crafted; but I thought some of the king's tarts look a little Shrekish). That said, there is some amazing detail (Beowulf as Geatly appropriate nose hair), and some of the fine grain movements -- emotions in and around eyes, the layers of fluid in the eyes, etc. -- are incredibly well done.

All told, I found this to be an enjoyable film, with some good narrative devices and some deeper themes (with some possibly unfortunate agendas).

I plan on seeing Beowulf again, but on the traditional screen, to see if it translates even better. And to see if the naked fighting is any less distracting.

30 Days of Night

I caught the first showing of 30 Days of Night last week, the vampire flick based on the Steve Niles comic books from IDW Publishing.

Like the comic, this is solidly mature fare -- and really well-executed.

Great tone, scenes, and characters make the translation from the source material.

Writers Niles, Stuart Beattie (Collateral), and Brian Nelson ("Earth: Final Conflict") turned out a solid script, and music video director David Slade turns out a tightly shot horror flick that feels more substantial than Underworld (a horror flick that feels like a music video; and I like that film).

Josh Hartnett surprised me in this role -- the guy is connected and authentically emotive, and fun to watch. Ben Foster is an actor's actor in this film, having gone from chisel-buffed, clean-shaven, squeaky clean Angel in X-Men: The Last Stand to the dirty, creepy, Cajun-infused and Renfield-like "The Stranger" in 30 Days of Night. Very impressive.

I also liked Mark Boone Junior, one of those constantly hard-working actors you see and go, "Oh, I know that face."

The vampires in the film are less fleshed out than the series, but Danny Huston and newcomer Megan Franich are stellar as the iconic vampires from the print run.

On the technical side, I need to watch the film again, but there were some weird interactions that felt like they were cheated way too much toward the camera than to the onscreen conversant. I noticed this in at least two Hartnett scenes, and maybe more.

On the content side, this is rough stuff. And while I like the trueness of the translation of the books to film, I am concerned that more and more of the rules of horror films (no harm to children and animals) are being violated. Not sure what that means on the slippery slope front.

Be that as it may, if you're not the queasy side and you like good vampire flicks (it's been dry for a while), I highly recommend 30 Days of Night.

And if you're not familiar with the book series, I envy the newness of the franchise for you.

Heroes

NBC's Heroes is back for its sophomore season, and I'm pretty stoked.


The threads are pretty thick, and they're handling them pretty well, though newcomers may struggle a bit with Peter and Ando's identities in the mix. Hang on for the ride, though -- Heroes tends to mash people's lives together -- super-hero Crash style.


Oh, and it's darker. I don't mean in tone. I mean the thing looks like it's shot darker. A bit of a pain when displayed on the projector.

Shoot 'Em Up

I caught the local matinee premiere of Shoot 'Em Up yesterday, New Line's latest vehicle for Clive Owen.

The good is it's actually a great vehicle for Paul Giamatti, who does a phenomenal job as the hitman linchpin who's the foil (and provides the manpower fodder), for Owen's constant bang bang shenanigans. Giamatti is one of my character actor heroes, and I put him up there with John C. Reilly, and William H. Macy, Pepe Serna, and Joan Cusack -- hard- (and constantly) working, amazingly talented character actors.

So, see the film for Giamatti. The other stuff, notably "Owen's constant bang bang shenanigans" -- isn't there.

The film's short. So short (120 minutes), and so hyped, that it's supposed to be about non-stop action. The brakes are put on repeatedly for heavy plot exposition and (worse) heavy-handed political statements about gun control and parental correction. The ironic juxtaposition is nice, though.

The film is over the top. But not in the fun/ridiculous way I was expecting. It felt gratuitous for gratuitous sake.

Worth seeing? For me, for Giamatti, yes. But Owen and Monica Bellucci have better stuff out there.

War

I watched War at its local premier today, and to be honest, I liked it. It's more Hard-Boiled than The Transporter, and kudos for them trying a bunch of things in the film.

It's a plot-heavy film, and any time you try to mix Chinese Triads and Japanese Yakuza -- and genuinely try to get it right -- you're taking on a lot.

There's also a bunch of interpersonal stuff the film works pretty hard to flesh out, which gives those relationships a sense of depth -- not much, but more than I would expect for a shoot -em up, and I appreciate it.

There's a twist I didn't see coming. I'm still playing with how believable I think it is, but I'm good with it right now.

Devon Aoki makes a relatively brief appearance as Kira, and does more than she did in Dead or Alive (DOA).

And I should preface any criticism of the film with the fact that -- at least from the IMDb entry -- it appears this is an effort from a bunch of first timers (writers Lee Anthony Smith and Gregory J. Bradley, and director Philip G. Atwell, at least as far as a theatrical foray goes). This is a great "first attempt". Of course Producers, Cinematography (Pierre Morel), Production Design (Chris August), and the Editorial Department are not first-timers, so that helps immensely.

But like I said, the film is plot-heavy, and it's story- and action-light.

I'm glad I got to see Aoki do more. But I would have like to see leads Jet Li and Jason Statham do more. Jet Li gets a better chance to show his acting chops in Unleashed (Danny the Dog) , and I enjoyed Jason Statham more in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.

And where the plot was thick, there were way too many "tell, don't show" moments where some dialog put the brakes on forward motion so we could bridge a couple of happenings, or get some back story. Dead giveaway that something else needs fixing.All that said, it's an enjoyable couple of hours, and I recommend it.

As far as other good stuff, there are some fun cinematography techniques in the film. I particularly enjoyed the one particular pan from location to location, and from day to night. They pulled it off well.

The audio's great, too. On the music side, there's a neat little bridge from what I think is a Yangqin or Guqin (could be a Pipa) to a more modern, rocking musical rendition. It's well done, with the traditional music continuing to flow underneath in a cool way. Just way too brief.

And Saul Rubinek rocks.

As far as meta-criticism, I wish they'd stop breaking rules. Like the "don't kill kids and pets" rules. There are those that tell me those are outmoded restrictions. But I wonder what the slippery slope is.

Finishing on a positive note, I think this is the first time I've been aware of all of the trailers shown before the movie are for films for which I'm sooo excited: 3:10 to Yuma; 30 Days of Night; Hitman, Shoot 'Em Up; The Dark Knight; Good Luck, Chuck (the last just because I want to see if they can pull off stretching the gag for an entire film).

Comic book video game videos

Kudos to a video like this which reminds me their are good comic book video games out there, feeding two of my passions. Especially since I've had a snarky couple of days.

And the games that are left out (Spider-Man 1, X-Men Legends, Rogue Trooper, and others) remind me that there are even more things about which to be grateful.

Who Wants to Be a Superhero

I'm a big Stan Lee fan. I think he's is responsible for most of the success and positive direction of tights-wearing comic books today. I respect the guy, and look for any opportunity to hear from him and get his insights.

And I'm a comic book fan. Wednesday's are special days of the week for me.

So I'm watching the second season of Who Wants to Be a Superhero.

Sweet mother, I must be a fan.

I mean, it's better than season 1, but this show is painful for me to watch.

There are folks that are obviously not going to make it through the running and get their own comic book, action figure, and movie. "Hygena"? Please. "Basura"? Shouldn't she be enemies with Hygena? "Mr. Mitzvah"? WTF?

And these non-contenders are irritating, because it makes the audience do time to find out who the "real" contenders are. Think thinly veiled red herrings. (It's going to be The Defuser, Hyper-Strike, or Whip-Snap. In that order of likelihood.)

And the acting from the villains makes me want to spew. Crappy campy.

I did say it was better than last season. There are no Blackberries with post-production video cheesily (and falsely) overlaid. And they're intentionally being campy at times. As opposed to being unintentionally corny in season 1.

But the "Elimination" sequence has gotten worse.

So, it's a tough series to watch, but I do, because I love getting insight from Stan Lee about what makes a hero, and how you create one. He'll be 86 this year, and he's got to be one of the most active and incredible lifetime independent creatives I've ever seen. It would be an honor to work with him in any capacity, and these reality show folks are really blessed.

Oh, and this pict is from the Website's "Hero Creator", which crapped out at the last step. Forefront's a character of mine I've had for a while. But not with this costume. I think my catchphrase is obscuring my package....

Sunshine

I saw Sunshine Monday, and I can't recommend it enough.

It's a Danny Boyle film, and it's almost two films -- or two genres (maybe sub-genres) in one.

Can't clarify that without giving stuff away, because it's one of those great films to go into not knowing anything about.

Acting is solid and not overdone, with good stuff in particular from Cillian Murphy (Capa), Hiroyuki Sanada (Kaneda), way too little dramatic Michelle Yeoh (Corazon), and Chris Evans (Mace). For Evans in particular, I'm glad he's got this movie in the same year as the Fantastic Four sequel, Rise of the Silver Surfer. Sunshine stretches him more, and he gets to do some gutsy, important stuff. Good for him.

Spider-man 3

Just saw Spider-Man 3.

I have lot to say on the pro and con side, but they're pretty specific spoilers, so I'll hold off.

I enjoyed it, though I like it least out of the trilogy. But I liked it better than Superman Returns.

And I understand now why no has tried to do a musical dance number in the middle of a comic book summer blockbuster film. Everyone else please take note.

Transformers

It's no secret I'm a Transformers fan. Mainly old school Generation 1 (especially Season 1, and the first half of Season 2), but Beast Wars was a bit o' the shizzle, too, from a quality perspective.

So, what about the new Transformers movie? I went to see it. On July 3rd. I'm that much of a fan.

Actually, it's pretty amazing.

I'm such a fan, and grateful to have a quality live-action movie, that my quibbles are just that -- quibbles.

Hey, it's a Michael Bay film, so don't expect great emotional depth. But expect great action, some humor, and some heart -- which the movie delivers in spades.

The Autobots and Decepticons themselves are pretty slick, and very believable. And the shot framing does a fantastic job of making them feel more "real". There aren't many gratuitous "he, look at our awesome giant robots!" moments. It's more tightly clipped, which makes the action frenetic, gives a sense of scale, and creates some "mini movies" throughout the film ("war movie"; "teen movie"; etc.).

And there's some good fan service moments throughout -- subtle, and not overdone. Let's just say "Witwicky", "cannons", and "energy sword", so as not to give too much away.

There's an anti-fan service moment or two, which (from previous public comments from Michael Bay) makes me wonder if he is thumbing his nose a bit at fans. Kind of a "Hey, this is Michael Bay Transformers, Be-otch!" (That's probably not fair; he probably doesn't say, "Hey".)

Another form of fan service comes from Megan Fox, who, while doing a good job in the film, to felt seriously out of place. Hey, I like movie high school much more than real high school, but this almost felt like "adult high school". And she needs new headshots.

For more on the acting front, Shia LaBeouf rocks it, and delivers lines that could easily come off as unbelievable. I enjoy watching him in general, and from watching him on Jay Leno interviews, I'd say he's well-cast in this film.

I also really like supporting actors Josh Duhamel (who totally sold me as Captain Lennox), and Kevin Dunn and Julie White (LaBeouf's mom and dad; stay to watch the credits).

And voice work? Peter Cullen, the original Optimus Prime? I shivered when I first heard his voice. Shivered.

I wasn't overly keen on Rachael Taylor (and am at a bit of a loss at her billing over actor's / roles like Jon Voight, Dunn, and White, which sounds like a law firm), and while I like John Torturro, his scenes in the film are overlong, and don't add to it; they could have been clipped a bit.

Other quibbles?

The film was about a half an hour too long, and would have been better serviced with a little tightening. Let's say "Torturro", "police station", and "Anthony Anderson" (no hate; just from the perspective of the film).

And much as I love (love) Peter Cullen's voice (and my upcoming voice demo has a couple of tributes to him), there was a bit too much "telling", violating film's "Show, don't Tell" rule. Ironic, for a Michael Bay film. And I don't think Optimus would be big on making sure he was all covered in a multicolored flames paint job. What was that about?

And the product placements are (for the most part) pretty unobtrusive, but there's one SD card placement that made me laugh out loud at its blatant obtrusiveness.

Finally (probably), they're little mini Decepticon, which I think is a bastardized version of Frenzy. Less robot bird and too Gremlins. And his vernacular expletives took me out of the moment.

But my quibbles are quibbles. The show rocked, I'll see it again, and probably get the 4-hour extended cut on DVD.

DOA: Dead or Alive

I'm disappointed.

I went to out of my way to catch opening night of the limited release DOA: Dead or Alive last night, planning to see the worst video game movie ever made. My buddy and I actually rushed to the theater because we were running late -- and ended up being 2 of 5 people to see the film.

I had appropriately low expectations, because while I watched Jaime Pressly talk up the action and fun of the film on The Tonight Show last year, she months later backpedaled about the film having "lost its way", "not being all it could have been", etc. -- also on the Tonight Show. When one of stars distances from a film, that's rarely a good thing. And video game movies don't have a great track record. And really, the Dead or Alive game franchise has kind of a gossamer-thin film premise.

Thing is, the film doesn't suck that bad. Sure, there's no plot of which to speak, and the whole thing is contrived to get more and more shots of the titular DOA girls (wow, I can't believe I stooped so low).

And Pressly, despite her balkings (and fans' rantings; that's got to be a frightful demographic), I think is well-cast as Tina, the pro-wrestling fight tournament contender.

Less well-cast (surprisingly to me), is Devon Aoki (Kasumi), who not only doesn't look the part, but where her deadpan demeanor worked so well in Sin City, it came across as wooden in this film.

Strong actors in the film are actually lesser known folks. Steve Howey (Weatherby) does a great, mostly non-overacted job, and I'm encouraged to see a talented actor (who I think does so well on Reba) taking off (and I hope TV comedy The Beast does well for him).

The other surprise in DOA is Sarah Carter (Helena Douglas). She's got a smile I'd call "infectious", and if you're into the acting process, watch her closely as she reacts -- not acts -- in her onscreen moments. A lot of those good moments are with Howey, which might or might not be coincidental. Of course, if I were to watch Skinwalkers, I might change my mind.

It's a shame Robin Shou (Pirate Leader) has such a minor role. He rocked as Liu Kang in the first Mortal Kombat, is a solid martial arts actor, and does a great job in his minor role.

I think Eric Roberts (Donovan) does a good job, but is miss-cast (does he watch the film and say, "That hair! What was I thinking?"). But, he's great in other stuff (like Heroes; and I am looking forward to him in The Dark Night).

The choreography in the movie is pretty good (for the main actors; the extras, waving their weapons needlessly in the air to purposely miss their targets, are laughable). And there are some good cinematic moments (the cutting back and forth between the fight scene between Holly Valance (Christie Allen) and Carter is surprisingly well done, and feels like it comes from another film.

Of course, there are way too many "I-don't-think-that-was-intended" laughable moments in the film. The "extreme ass cam" (during the above fight) made me laugh out loud.

More frustrating, is there are some basic film making things to which they could have paid attention to make the movie tighter. Like not insulting the audience. Example: When revealing a critical character, flashing back to the scene where he was introduced, having another character shout, "[name]! My [relationship]!", all while cutting back and forth between the present and the flashback. Insulting.

And there are missed opportunities. There could have been some clever stuff done with the DOA fighters not using weapons (and triumphing over those who do), that would have been a nod to the video game's Itagaki.

All that said, it's not the worst video game movie. It's not as good as the first Mortal Kombat (but better than the second); it's better than Super Mario Bros. and Street Fighter; and (I'm told), it's better than every Uwe Boll film. Heck, comparing it another film from this summer, it's better than Ghost Rider (though, admittedly, I had expectations for that film, and none for this).

Oh, and for those looking for fan service, realize that while all of the fighters are in the film, most of the non-busty have brief roles or cameos. And if you're looking for more titillating fan service, you're better off with the Dead or Alive 4 video game cutscenes, or the over-the-top Dead or Alive Extreme 2 game.

Hot Fuzz

Heh.

It's been almost a week, and I'm still laughing about Hot Fuzz, the spiritual successor from the guys behind Shaun of the Dead.

I had low expectations for a funny, but throw-away film, based on the U.S. trailers for the film, which make look almost like a live-action Team America: World Police.

Not to take anything away from that film, but Hot Fuzz is way different, and (for me) way better.

The trailers I've seen are selling the film at a disservice, because this is one hip, hilarious, smart, and tightly acted / written / edited film.

Simon Pegg (Sergeant Nicholas Angel) is top-notch, and is a prolific writer / actor the likes of to which to aspire. He plays a believable hard-nosed / -assed cop officer, and rarely can be seen wearing "look how funny my writing is" on his sleeve (there is a moment, though; the first "By the power of ..." is gold, and the second is contrived).

Nick Frost (PC Danny Butterman), Pegg's rotund subtly faux bumbling partner in the sleepy hamlet to which Angel's been reassigned, is so amazingly committed to his character and actions, he's a real joy to watch.

And Timothy Dalton gives me probably my favorite performance of his since The Rocketeer. The way this guy can act and have fun with himself is impressive.

Perhaps the strength of the film is its ability to pull off the ludicrous, making me laugh because it's ludicrous, but it doesn't feel unreal. That and being able to pull off the humor and the grotesque side-by-side.

Not to give anything away, but the plot twists in the film feel organic to the genre; the "genre" being an Edgar Wright & Simon Pegg film. Almost reverse Scooby-Doo, in a way. Whatever. Brass tacks: I didn't feel jerked around.

I heartily recommend the film. It's a tight, hilarious, surprisingly high-caliber offering for an early summer kick off for action and comedy fans.

Inside the Actor's Studio ...

I'm doing a marathon of sorts, watching the "100th Episode Anniversary", James Woods, David Duchovney, and Alan Alda (from my neck of the woods).

I am encouraged by how much I get to learn. I'm also encouraged that James Woods sounds like me in an interview, but turns in such amazing performances on screen.

There's hope ...

300

In the interest of full disclosure, I'm a Frank Miller fan.

So, I was going to see 300 the day it opened. I didn't know I was going to see it twice.

Visually, the film is impressive. It's a pseudo period adventure / war piece, and there's a commitment on the visual feel (borne from the original graphic novel) that's cohesive and compelling.

Scenes are almost frame-perfect from the original work, which comes off well for the most part -- though there are a couple of miss-steps where something that looked "super badass" in the book comes across a bit flat in the movie (the Persian duplicity reveal and the corpse tree in particular stand out to me).

But for the most part, scenes flowed well, and didn't feel too disjoint -- which is a danger considering their self-contained "wow" moments.

The actors were strongly committed, which makes for a great performance, with Gerard Butler (Leonidas) in particular surprising me with his performance, though Lena Headey's (Gorgo) refreshingly strong character portrayal was nice, too. Dominic West (Theron) was sharp in his political portrayal, and Vincent Regan (Captain) is a shamefully underrated actor, who gave perhaps the most powerful, humanizing moments in the film.

The only real downside to the film (for me) was they included the text-heavy narration throughout, which became a little grating. Not so much because it violated the "show, don't tell axiom" (which it did), but because I'm not sure for which accent David Wenham (Dilios) was trying, but it certainly didn't work (as an aside, dialects are all over the map in this film).

Overall, 300 is a powerful, visually impressive film, and the few missteps don't detract from the overall impact of the movie.

Pineapple

I know I said I'd do this, but I got behind.

A couple of weeks ago, I watched a film I won't name and was so bad I almost wanted to take a Brillo pad to the eyes and pipe cleaners to the ears (and not the pansy-ass craft kind; the real, metal ones that work). It was worse because I'm a fan of the franchise. I shall not name the flick, hoping it goes back to whatever circle of hell spawned it.

Fortunately for me, last week, I saw Pineapple. Because of the content, it should have had the same effect. But it didn't.

Which is a testimony to solid execution on the film's part.

What's the film about?

Wrong question.

What happens in the film is Andrew (Steven Chester Prince), struggling with a broken marriage, unwillingly estranged daughter, and clean from his past addictions, falls back into those addictions. And falls hard.

What the film is about is kind of open.

The acting is pretty good throughout. Steve Prince (full disclosure: He's my coach) is solid and genuinely engaged throughout. Most of the rest of the cast is as well, though there is some rockiness in a couple of line deliveries. I can't tell if this is from editing, but in at least two instances it felt like they started with a line without having built the precursor conversation in their head.

Scream queen Eliza Swenson ("Crystal") does a mostly fantastic job, and Skye McCole Bartusiak ("Alex") blew me away (that's one talented kid).

This is a tough film about which to talk in detail for a number of reasons.

First, it's pretty layered in its duplicity, so to say too much would create spoilers. I can say for the most part the film pulls off the redirects subtly and well, so I was surprised by most of them. One of the big ones was obvious to me shortly into the film, and another, when the first clue was dropped, I thought was the reveal (and made the right conclusion), so the "real" reveal at the end was a bit anticlimactic. Most importantly, however, I never felt like I was given a red herring to divert my attention from the truth (that's just insulting when films do that).

Secondly, this film deals with some rough stuff. Hard core addiction, addict stripper love interest (with lots of on-location scenes, and, uh, friends), domestic violence, and broken families are all portrayed honestly and brutally. This is not kiddie or family fare, but it's important stuff.

Despite the rough content, the film delivers very well. I think films have merit by nature of having been made, and when they hold up a magnifying glass to very real (even if very dark) reality, that's an incredibly important and needed side-effect.

Someone involved with the film said reviews had been all over the map, because "people who have life experience get the film, and people who don't, don't."

This is generalization that falls apart for a couple of reasons.

First, living people, by definition, have life experience.

Secondly, even if what he meant was "People with this kind of life experience get the film", there are lots of other reasons for folks to like or dislike the film.

Like I said, it's pretty tough content. For some people, that can be too much of an off-put to support the film. I also know folks who have come out of the backgrounds portrayed in Pineapple, and because of where they are in the healing process, they don't want a detailed reminder of what that was like.

And people like me, blessed with not having that background, still gets the film, and think it's important, because it reminds me of what people have gone through or are going through. A film that builds empathy is pretty big deal.

I say the film is very much worth seeing. For me, it's kind of like Se7en -- a great, tough film that (because of content) I won't see all that repeatedly. But I'm glad I saw it.

UPDATED: I'm so embarrassed I forgot to talk about the music, because it's a massively well-done part of the film. The score is from Brian Vander Ark (lead singer for The Verve Pipe, and the writer behind one of my favorite songs, "The Freshman", and new fav "Another Good Man"; uh, neither of which are in this film). There's also stuff from Smackola (dIRTy WoRMz), who's a key character in the film, and Vehicular, and Alpha Rev (including Casey McPherson).

This is freaking amazing musical talent, and even more so for an indie film.

Heroes

I'm still watching this show. And, for the most part, it keeps getting better and better.

The initial roughness is tightening up, some of the uneven acting is getting less so, and it's a new way to scratch the comic book itch.

The second half of season 1 started out steeply, so folks not familiar with the first arc were probably left in the dark. Weird, since this is a known thing to avoid killing a series prematurely.

That said, NBC has probably the best network Website, and you can watch full episodes online. This'll probably go away, because as Season 1 winds down, I'm sure the DVD boxed set is on its way, and the network isn't going to cannibalize those sales.

Check out the series. There are some strong actors on board, and it's fun, (mostly) non-bubble gum fiction.