Remote Viewing - What I'm watching on TV.

If you weren't watching the CW program ARROW, last season you missed not only an exciting show, but one of the better comics related shows I've ever seen.  Based on the classic DC character GREEN ARROW, this makes some changes to the characters origin (at least as it was back in the Silver Age, since I have no clue what they have done with GA since the New (not any more) 52 began), the most obvious is that Oliver Queen is in his 20s in the show and much younger than the four-color version.

You aren't going to see any 'boxing glove' arrows or other things of that sort, but with a few explosive exceptions Ollie uses a pretty basic hunting arrow when confronting the bad guys in Starling City.  The Arrow, is never called that in the show, but is referred to by the city media and police as The Hood.  Like the early BATMAN of Gotham City the police view him as a violent vigilante and to be honest, unlike the Dark Knight, The Hood doesn't hesitate from actually taking a life when he feels it necessary.

Stephen Amell is good both as the spoiled Oliver Queen and as his more aggressive persona.  I don't know how much of the stunt work is actually done by Amell, but the scenes of him working in his gym and close-up scenes show that he is in very good physical shape and able to handle himself when a stuntman would be too obvious. The story allows him to change and grow as he begins to see himself as more than just the one to carry out his father's vengeance.  He actually does become a hero in many ways, with assistance from his bodyguard, John Diggle (played by David Ramsey), who can be just as competent, if a bit less violent than his boss.  The creators were smart in bringing in Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards) a computer tech for Queen Industries to aide Oliver in her own fashion.

It will be interesting to see where the shows goes in its second season, having introduced several DCU characters in the first (Huntress, Deadshot & Deathstroke).  They have already announced that a version of Black Canary will be showing up and rumors of a FLASH appearing also have come out.  IMDB simply mentions 'Barry Allen' (Grant Gustin from GLEE and 90210) will be in two episodes.  We'll see if Barry gains his abilities in the show or already possesses them.

As you can see, I really enjoy the show and will try to have stuff about a few other programs that I'm currently watching.

Remote Viewing: SHARKNADO

This was originally going to be completed and posted a week or so after I saw the film, but I actually forgot I had begun a draft and had it here.  Hope you still enjoy it.

I had heard about this film probably a day or so before it was originally broadcast, but had just shrugged it off as another of those SyFy films that aren't worth the time to record or watch.  By the time I was getting ready for Comic-Con, it seemed that everybody was talking about it and even the Mainstream Media had to chime in.  In San Diego it was amazing how many people were talking about it and SyFy was taking advantage of the word-of-mouth by passing out postcards on the street promoting a sequel.  They were really clever by setting up a contest where folks could tweet in a suggested title for the film.



The film was instant 'cult classic' and if you've seen it you already know why.  It's fun with full of overacting, fake violence and laughable dialogue.  Pretty much all you need to be a success and start a franchise.

The basic plot (and it is really damn basic) is that a series of tornadoes over the Pacific Ocean off of California ('natch!) picks up the schools of man-eating sharks that coincidentally have come to the area.  Their first target happens to be the Santa Monica pier where hundreds of tourists suddenly find themselves chum.  Fortunately, a few folks are able to take shelter in a bar owned by Finley "Fin" Shepard (Ian Ziering), a former champion surfer a couple of co-workers and bar regular George (played with gusto by John Heard). Hard to believe that Heard, a one-time Emmy nominee, is reduced to this stuff, but everybody has got to pay the rent.  I also wonder if he only played George as drunk or was taking a few real drinks just to be able to get through the script until he met his fate.

Anyway, Fin and Co. make their way to his ex-wife's home to protect both her and his daughter.  The fact that neither wants to see him or want his protection is something you can foresee from early on, but you also know that by about halfway through this adventure they will be a bit more grateful that he showed up.  I'm not going to give anything else away, since you can probably figure things out for yourself from just the trailer and from having seen any film of this type the past twenty years.