The Librarian: Quest for the Spear

The first in a great series of movies from TNT, The Quest for the Spear introduces us to Flynn Carsen (Noah Wyle), nerd extraordinaire and professional student who prefers the world of academia to anything else. But just when he is heartbreakingly banned from earning degree #23, a mysterious letter arrives inviting Flynn to interview with the Metropolitan Library. But this is no ordinary library, rather a huge archive of items long thought to be mere myths and legends. Housing Pandora’s Box, the Ark of the Covenant and trinkets like Excalibur, Flynn finally finds a niche where all his broad education and esoteric knowledge can be put to good use. The whole tone of the film is of a tongue-in-cheek rollicking adventure, replete with jokes made at Flynn’s expense, the dry humor of enigmatic Judson (Bob Newhart), the great Jane Curtin playing cranky pencil-pusher Charlene (“Save your receipts!”), Olympia Dukakis as Flynn’s mother who’s desperate to get her son married, and an assortment of requisite femme fatales and vile villains.

When thieves steal part of the Spear of Destiny, it’s up to new Librarian Flynn to, you guessed it, save the world. While there’s plenty of alleged peril, there’s always jaunty music playing to let you know it’s all in good fun, à la Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. Full of one-liners, sly winks, references to a host of interesting historical and/or mythological tidbits, not to mention a large dollop of magic, this is a light-hearted and ridiculously fun ride that is in no way meant to be taken seriously. In contrast to hyper-emotional Hollywood dramas or mindless shoot-em-up films, it’s nice to take a break and enjoy something that celebrates intelligence, knowledge and ingenuity, where brains triumph over brawn and the once dusty librarian is re-cast as an action hero. – BETHANY

For everything you might possibly need to know about this movie, consult the Internet Movie Database

Oh Flynn, why can’t you meet a nice girl, settle down and have my grandchildren? Mrs. Carsen (Olympia Dukakis) and Flynn (Noah Wyle).

Charlene (Jane Curtin) and Judson (Bob Newhart).  ‘Twenty bucks says he doesn’t make it back alive.’

Is that what I think it is?  Yes, don’t touch.

Maybe it would be best not to open Pandora’s Box, Flynn.

       Told you.

“Oh yeah, call the police. Tell them about the Spear of Destiny, the golden goose, the lost Ark. Enjoy your stay in the psych ward. I understand Thorazine comes in vanilla now.”

Yeah, this is going to go well …

Flynn and Nicole (Sonya Walger).                                                                              “You only live once”                                                                                                                “Unless you believe in Buddhism or Sikhism…”                                                             “I hate you so much.”

Flynn consults the Language of the Birds.  Really.

A cool 3D map showing the way to Shangri-La. (What else would it be?)

                                                                 Oh dear, apprehended by a villain (Kelly Hu).  You can tell because she’s dressed all in black.

 

Photos courtesy of Dean Devlin, Electric Entertainment and TNT

Galavant

If every great Broadway show and Monty Python’s Holy Grail had a baby with The Princess Bride and the great Mel Brooks, said offspring would probably be something like Galavant. According to Michael Kosarin, musical director, “It’s a medieval musical comedy, but with a modern sensibility.” However, before you rent this for the kids, it’s important to note this is a sort of adult pseudo-Disney/Dreamworks production. A meta-fairy tale that’s aware of itself in a very amusing way, it’s a bit naughty, very saucy and irresistibly witty. Anything that can rhyme coup d’etat with push-up bra is aces in my book! It had me roaring with laughter and I greatly enjoyed all the songs that thankfully do not stop the action, but rather move the story forward in some very clever ways.

This glorious show makes fun of all the classic fairy tale clichés (even using the phrase in the opening song), somewhat along the lines of the Shrek movies if they were made solely for grown-ups. I particularly enjoyed the, er, super romantic ballad “Maybe you’re not the worst thing ever”, although it’s tough to pick a favorite out of the myriad of brilliant songs. Although I’m disappointed there were only 8 episodes to see, it delighted me to find this is not the mini-series I originally thought it was, but rather an ongoing TV show where all the fun can continue. This does lead to an inevitable cliffhanger instead of the usual Happily Ever After wrap-up, but Galavant is a refreshing bright spot in a sea of dramas and inane comedies. It sparkles with wit, ingenious music and lyrics, and thoroughly entertains. Encore! – BETHANY

Indulge in looking through the actors, trivia and all sorts of information at: the Internet Movie Database

Left to right:  Sid (Luke Youngblood), Queen Madalena (Mallory Jansen), Galavant (Joshua Sasse), King Richard (Timothy Omundson), Gareth (Vinnie Jones), and Princess Isabella Maria Lucia Elizabetta of Valencia (Karen David).

Actually, Galavant, thanks for coming to “rescue” me from marrying this pathetic worm of a man, but I think I quite fancy being Queen.

Say what?  Madalena, I thought we had True Love!

‘Weird Al’ Yankovic and The Monks.

Princess Isabella and Sid Golf Clap at a tournament.

Oh dear.  That must really hurt.

Sir Jean Hamm (John Stamos).

Center: Peter the Pillager (Hugh Bonneville)

                         Xanax the wizard (Ricky Gervais).  Why should you become his patron?  Because “Xanax makes everything better”, of course!

Everybody dance!

Kingsley, Richard’s older brother (Rutger Hauer)

Madalena tries to seduce Galavant (again).

                         Anthony Stewart Head as Galavant’s singing and dancing father.

Gareth (Vinnie Jones), King Richard’s right hand man, gets slightly petulant.

         Sir Galavant, hero of the people and general “fairy tale cliché”.

Madalena sings to herself (and gets her groove back) in “No One But You”.

Watch Madalena’s performance for yourself:

 

The Chef (Darren Evans) and Gwynne (Sophie McShera) sing about their prospective loathsome, er, wonderful future in “If I Could Share My Life With You”

 

 

Photos courtesy of River Studios, ABC Studios, Rhode Island Ave. and ABC (unless otherwise credited in clickable form)

 

Red Band Society

Red Band Society is a great show about a group of teenagers so ill they have to live in the hospital. It’s got heart, well drawn characters, excellent dialogue and just enough humor to lighten the otherwise depressing atmosphere. These are real people making the best of a horrible situation, some dealing with it better than others. There’s an interesting array of personalities in the hospital staff as well as the patients, including a boy in a coma who omnisciently narrates the proceedings. It’s a fascinating look at life in the hospital, with the inevitable human drama running alongside the medical goings on. I’m giving this show four stars, but it isn’t one I’ll continue to watch. This is because I personally spend way too much time in the hospital as a patient myself, and therefore the subject material hits a little too close to home for me. However, I highly recommend you give it a chance, even though it was cancelled after one season, and see if these characters can win you over. It’s sure to change your outlook on life and make you appreciate all the things you might otherwise take for granted. – BETHANY

For more on this heart-wrenching show, visit the Internet Movie Database

Scary Nurse, the new guy on the ward, Coma Kid, Mean Girl, Old Timer, the Anorexic, the Player and the Hot Doc.

        Left to right:Dash (Astro), Jordi (Nolan Sotillo), coma boy Charlie (Griffin Gluck) and Lee (Charlie Rowe).

Nurse Jackson (Octavia Spencer) trying (and most likely failing) to get some cooperation from erstwhile cheerleader and always mean girl Kara (Zoe Levin).

Wheelchair races!

                                                              Almost insufferably cheerful and obviously unseasoned Nurse Brittany (Rebecca Rittenhouse).

 

 

 

Photos courtesy of ABC Studios, Amblin Television, Filmax International, Disney–ABC Television Group and Fox network (unless credited in clickable form)

Wolfblood

Really an excellent British show that runs in America on the Disney channel. An adolescent girl named Maddy and her parents try to live a normal life while concealing the fact that every full moon they transform into wolves, which is particularly problematic as wolves have been hunted to to the brink of extinction in England. Maddy meets a new student at school named Rhydian and discovers he too is a “wolfblood”. Unable to explain to her friends why she and Rhydian are suddenly so close, their relationship is further threatened by Maddy’s friend Shannon’s obsession with proving the existence of a local legend.

It’s a simple enough plot definitely geared to a younger audience which is honestly quite a refreshing change from the dark, emotionally tortured and often over-sexed werewolves that seem to populate other TV shows and movies. Call it a supernatural coming-of-age story done in typical understated British fashion with a good dollop of dry humor. Not just for children, this show also appeals to adults who enjoy remembering when things were much less complicated, although at the time it seems like every little thing heralds the end of the world. I really enjoyed season 1 and with season 3 already running in the UK, I hope Disney decides to pick it up for season 2 in the US. Alternatively, Wolfblood is available to stream on Netflix and Hulu. – BETHANY

For more information on Wolfblood, visit the Internet Movie Database

                                  You gotta have howling at the moon!

OK, so the wolf effects aren’t that great.  At least they’re actual wolves, not some weird human/wolf mix.

Maddy and Rhydian – what, you didn’t recognize them?

Maddy and her overly curious friends, Tom Okinawe (Kedar Williams-Stirling) and Shannon Kelly (Louisa Connolly-Burnham).

                                 Resident mean girls Kay, Kara and Katrina.  Or simply the 3 Ks. (Shorelle Hepkin, Rachel Teate, and Gabrielle Green)

Maddy’s parents Emma (Angela Lonsdale) and Dan Smith (Marcus Garvey).

Maddy and Rhydian, (Aimee Kelly and Bobby Lockwood)

The easy camaraderie between wolfbloods.

 

 

Photos courtesy of CBBC, ZDF/ZDFE and CBBC (unless otherwise credited in clickable form)

 

The Boxtrolls

Warning: If you love ladybugs, this movie will definitely disturb you. And now for something completely different, this is a bit of an homage to Monty Python, heavily influenced by the cheese shop routine and a nod to the ‘wafer-thin’ bit in The Meaning of Life. With a vague steampunk vibe, a nightmarish Moulin Rouge cross-dresser and a little girl obsessed with the macabre, this is a strangely enjoyable film but it would have scared me to death as a child. The Boxtrolls live beneath the streets of the somewhat asininely named town of Cheesebridge and emerge at night to relieve the residents of anything they find interesting, generally from within rubbish bins and usually of a mechanical nature. Their underground home looks like a steampunk Amazon order fulfillment center and is absolutely full of gadgetry.  This movie has a lot of fun playing with the concepts of good and evil, particularly highlighted by the oddly philosophical musings of the villain’s loathsome minions as they go about their dirty work. There are some obvious reversals of traditional values (“People are just mean and selfish. They’re monsters.”) as well as some rather scathing commentary on greed, obsession with social status, parental neglect and what’s really important in life (“Cheese, hats, boxes, they don’t make you. You make you.”). So don’t judge a book by its cover and one man’s trash is a boxtroll’s treasure, but the lofty ideals are illustrated in some very obscure and definitely unorthodox ways. A bit wonky and more than a smidgen gross (the leeches! Severe lactose intolerance!), think of this as a British fable on acid and adjust your expectations accordingly. This has the creepiness factor of Tim Burton mixed with the bizarre fantasy of Roald Dahl and perhaps the reason it didn’t clean up at the box office is because while it is apparently a children’s tale, it’s illusory nature is really going to appeal to a more mature crowd. – BETHANY

For more on this deliciously twisted movie, visit the Internet Movie Database

Lord Portley-Rind (Jared Harris)

The loathsome minions

Eggs (Isaac Hempstead Wright) and his adoptive family.

Madame Frou-Frou

Winnie (Elle Fanning) and Eggs (Isaac Hempstead-Wright)

Archibald Snatcher (Sir Ben Kingsley)

Images from The Ball:

 

Photos courtesy of Laika studios and Focus Features