CliqueClack

Help kickstart a Power Rangers fan film into action

If you’re of a certain age — young or old — you probably know all about the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the landmark TV show which has changed hands many times over the years (at one time under the ownership of Disney, briefly), and the fan adoration for the characters shows no signs of abating. Some fans are so devoted to the show that they’re taking to making a fan film based on the 90s show called Zordon of Eltar: A Power Rangers Fan Film. That fan is, in fact, CliqueClack’s own Cisco Davis Jr., who has just launched a Kickstarter campaign to help finance the making of the film. We like to show our Clackers some support, so we sat down at the CliqueClack headquarters deep in a mountain somewhere to find out exactly what makes Cisco tick and why he wants to do this film.

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TV on DVD November 5: Under the Dome, Mad Men, Magic City

We want to play catch up here and remind of the TV on DVD releases that came out November 5th. As Mad Men prepares to wind down, you can catch up with the previous season, and if you missed CBS’ hit summer series Under the Dome, now is your opportunity to see the show that just might change the way networks think about summer programming and hour-long dramas overall. Fans of Duck Dynasty can spend the Christmas holidays with the gang, and Doctor Who fans can enjoy the last seven seasons in a gift set complete with a Sonic Screwdriver. Full series sets for Weeds, Absolutely Fabulous and Boy Meets World and more make for great holiday gifts, and fans of I Love Lucy can enjoy the rarely seen Christmas episode for the first time in color (along with two other colorized episodes). Purists will also be able to enjoy the episodes in their native black and white. And to get ready for the holidays, a collection of TV movies and family specials round out the list. To see all of the November 5 releases, have a look at our shopper’s guide after the break.

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Man of Steel soars on Blu-ray

Man of Steel was the hotly anticipated reboot of the Superman franchise that had its supporters as well as its detractors. The film managed to sidestep the usual “origin story” pitfalls by giving us a Clark Kent already grown and trying to find his way in the world, while showing us how he got to this place through flashbacks to his childhood. After the terrible decision to reboot Spider-Man’s story with almost an hour of origin … which most people already know because of the three previous films … it was a brilliant move on the part of David S. Goyer and Zach Snyder to not bog down the first half of the movie with origin stuff.

Of course, some would say the film went completely off the rails with the bigger and bigger battle scenes that make you wonder where they can go next. Perhaps they did start off the franchise in a much too grand style, but some of the major changes to the Superman mythology left a bad taste in many fans’ mouths. I appreciated the new and improved Lois Lane, thankful that she wasn’t the ditz who could not tell the difference between Clark and Supe. Getting that out of the way right off the bat gave Lois a reason to be involved in the story as an active participant, not as a damsel in distress. The two major battles, in Smallville and Metropolis, were spectacular achievements in special effects, but left many wondering how that much destruction was going to be acknowledged. Quick answer: it wasn’t. Nope, Metropolis is virtually leveled, and one quick edit later, all is well and Clark has a job at the Daily Planet. Perhaps some of this will be addressed in the sequel.

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Win passes to a DC screening of Nebraska

ALL PASSES FOR THIS SCREENING HAVE BEEN CLAIMED. PLEASE FOLLOW @CLIQUECLACK ON TWITTER FOR ALERTS ON CONTESTS, NEWS AND REVIEWS.

CliqueClack has partnered with Paramount Pictures and Allied Integrated Marketing to offer readers in the Washington, DC area an opportunity to attend an advance screening of Alexander Payne’s critically acclaimed new motion picture Nebraska, starring Will Forte, Bruce Dern, June Squibb, Bob Odenkirk and Stacy Keach. After receiving a sweepstakes letter in the mail, a cantankerous father (Dern) thinks he’s struck it rich and wrangles his son (Forte) into taking a road trip to claim the fortune. Shot in black and white across four states, Nebraska tells the stories of family life in the heartland of America. Dern’s performance has been generating Oscar buzz since the film’s festival screenings, so this is an opportunity not to miss.

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There’s an author somewhere who doesn’t know what “most popular” means

Class? We’re now in session so please settle down.

You’re going to want to pay attention because what I’m about to discuss will account for 50% of your grade.

Are you ready? Good … let’s begin.

We’re going to take a look at two different words today. Both are adjectives:

MOST [mohst]
adjective, superlative of much or many with more as comparison
1. in the greatest quantity, amount, measure, degree, or number: to win the most votes.
2. in the majority of instances: Most operations are successful.
3. greatest, as in size or extent: the most talent.

 

POP·U·LAR [pop-yuh-ler]
adjective
1. regarded with favor, approval, or affection by people in general: a popular preacher.
2. regarded with favor, approval, or affection by an acquaintance or acquaintances: He’s not very popular with me just now.
3. of, pertaining to, or representing the people, especially the common people: popular discontent.
4. of the people as a whole, especially of all citizens of a nation or state qualified to participate in an election: popular suffrage; the popular vote; popular representation.
5. prevailing among the people generally: a popular superstition.

Now … let’s put the two words together and look at them:

MOST POPULAR

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Where is Agents of SHIELD going?

Sadly, Agents of SHIELD has not capitalized on the incredible hype the new series had going into its premiere. Using the Marvel Cinematic Universe to launch a film series was an obvious idea in hindsight. The film series has done phenomenally well, and Marvel has such a large library of characters and stories that would easily translate to the small screen. But SHIELD has tried to put its own stake in the ground and create something new.

But – unlike Iron Man 3 – SHIELD hasn’t shied away from what has come before. Phil Coulson’s arc that started in The Avengers has carried through. The team operates in a world that knows of demigods, iron men and green rage monsters. Chitauri artifacts and Extremis injections and Colonel Nick Fury himself have all been a part of the SHIELD story thus far.

But the show has struggled. Keith weighed in a couple of weeks ago, pointing at the lack of compelling characters as one of the show’s main troubles. He’s not wrong – though I don’t think I’ll ever live down my appreciation for Ron Moore’s “characters” line. While personally I am digging Coulson, Melinda May and Jemma Simmons (I’m a sucker for the accent, leave me alone), I think SHIELD has failed to make either Grant Ward or Skye interesting, despite quite a bit of focus early on. Continue reading 'Where is Agents of SHIELD going?' »

Lifeguard is 70s background fodder, nothing more

Little Known Fact: Lifeguard was originally developed as a cheesy ABC Afterschool Special.

*quickly checks files in the event he could possibly be misinformed*

Hokay … I might be a tad off on that statement.

All right, all right! I’m completely off: Lifeguard was never pegged as an ABC Afterschool Special. (Question: Who remembers ABC Afterschool Specials? Come on, show of hands.)

But viewing the 96 minutes of film, you could easily mistake this atypical Southern California vehicle — with its often cheesy dialog and sometimes eye-rolling situations — as an after school entrant. But with the caveats of lots of T&A (and some of that bare-skinned to boot), a throwaway performance by a 70s Playboy Playmate (Sharon Clark) and a first full film (give or take) for the then-newbee Kathleen Quinlan.

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MasterChef Junior is the best new show of the season – and there’s just one episode left!

I don’t mind telling you that I’m a bit sad that my favorite new show of the fall is ending after only seven episodes. It’s also the best new reality show, but that’s easy, because there aren’t really any other notable ones. MasterChef Junior is a spin-off of the popular MasterChef series created and judged by angry, profane, and British super chef Gordon Ramsay, although versions of this kiddie variant already have aired in Australia and the UK. I’ve watched a bit of the other ones, but there are few too many country specific “celebrities” I don’t recognize to really get invested. That said, you need to watch this show! You can catch up before Friday on the MasterChef Junior website, but perhaps I should explain first. If you like cooking competition shows, I shouldn’t have to explain why you’ll like this one, so let’s focus on those who don’t watch these sorts of things.

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Loki steals the spotlight in Thor: The Dark World

Phase 2 of the Marvel Universe film franchise got underway with Iron Man III, and now the next step to The Avengers: Age of Ultron is here with the release of Thor: The Dark World. In the new movie, it’s been at least two years since Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) saw Thor (Chris Hemsworth) – in person, that is. She did see him on TV during the attack on New York (chronicled in Marvel’s The Avengers, natch), but he hasn’t been back to earth to see her since he abruptly left earth in the first Thor movie.

Of course, fans know he couldn’t come back because the bridge between the realms had been destroyed, but it’s back now and the upcoming convergence of the Nine Realms is giving Thor a reason to be concerned about earth once again. It seems the Dark Elves, whom we meet in the film’s prologue, are determined to use the alignment of the realms to release the Aether and restore darkness to the universe. Thor must reluctantly seek the assistance of his imprisoned, adopted brother Loki to stop the Dark Elves and save not only the Nine Realms but earth as well.

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White House Down, Grown Ups 2, and more Hobbit come to home video

If you didn’t think The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey was already too long, now you can own the extended director’s cut … but this one is only about 13 minutes longer, so it’s hard to see how much different the new version will be. Perhaps more singing dwarfs? If that’s not your cup of tea, you can watch the White House under siege (again) in White House Down, or more hijinks with Adam Sandler and friends in Grown Ups 2. If you don’t want to wait for DVDs or Blu-rays of other popular movies, you can get early digital releases of Planes, We’re the Millers and 2 Guns. For the Twi-hard Twilight fan who already doesn’t own everything, there is now a complete Twilight saga collection, a long-awaited Blu-ray release of The Right Stuff, a high-def collection of James Dean’s three films, and re-releases of some classic holiday flicks. To see all of these and more, have a look at our shopper’s guide, and click on a link to get more information or to make a purchase. And remember, any purchase made through a link helps to keep things running here at CliqueClack, and we thank you for your support!

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