…Archer and Lana are on a mission with Conway Stern, and (spoiler alert!) it doesn’t go well. See my full recap over at Television Woodshed.
Meanwhile, in Buenos Aires…
•January 19, 2015 • Leave a CommentSo I finished a script in a week…
•January 12, 2015 • 4 Comments
…and I’m talking about a full, 90-page screenplay for a feature motion picture. It was described as a “nearly impossible” job by the person who asked if I could do it, but I took it on anyway, and actually finished a couple of hours before the deadline. I accepted the job on New Year’s Eve, did research for the project and created a five-film synopsis and proposal from Thursday, January 1st through Sunday, January 4, and started writing that night. I finished yesterday evening around 6:00 p.m. and handed it in.
I can’t talk about the project yet, but hopefully it will move forward and I’ll be discussing it quite a bit in the near future.
Archer is Back!
•January 12, 2015 • Leave a Comment
Archer has returned, and we all know what that means: My first recap for the show is up at my new home for TV show reviews, Television Woodshed. Head on over and check it out!
Yeah, I’m still here…
•November 13, 2014 • Leave a Comment
…and I’ve been neglecting the hell out of this blog. But that’s because I’ve been busy writing a screenplay (for a producer, not just for fun!), a couple of short stories (that are actually being published!), a YA novel (more on that to come), and recaps for Television Woodshed (since PopSyndicate is no longer in the TV show review business). Check out my recaps of Archer, Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD, and Sleepy Hollow if you have any interest in those shows.
Capes & Clockwork
•February 6, 2014 • Leave a CommentSo I’ve been busy posting reviews of shows like Archer, Sleepy Hollow, and Agents of SHIELD over at Popsyndicate, and I neglected to mention that there’s a new anthology out with a story I wrote in it. It’s called Capes & Clockwork and it’s full of stories about steampunk superheroes. My story is called “Blastbucket,” and it’s about a guy who has to fight an armored, steam-powered behemoth. You can find it HERE.
If You Are a Doctor Who Fan, This Webisode Will Blow Your Mind…
•November 14, 2013 • Leave a Comment
The BBC has posted a new webisode prequel to the fiftieth anniversary special, “Day of the Doctor,” and it’s called “Night of the Doctor.” I won’t spoil anything if you haven’t seen it, but every Doctor Who fan I know who’s seen it had his or her mind blown.
Is ‘Sleepy Hollow’ the Best New Show of the Season?
•October 29, 2013 • Leave a Comment
There were a lot of candidates before the season started. Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD had great word-of-mouth coming out of Comic-Con, and Joss Whedon certainly has a track record of making great shows (and a great Avengers movie). The Blacklist looked promising, with its interesting premise and James Spader chewing the scenery in previews. Michael J. Fox and Robin Williams are both big stars with years of comedy under their belts. But one show vaulted over them all, doing well with viewers, many critics, and even picky genre fans like me: Sleepy Hollow is a hit, and deservedly so. Luckily, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci have produced a series closer to Fringe than Transformers, and have received a grateful audience in return.
This is a take on Ichabod Crane that even a jaded fan/critic like myself can get on board with: a Revolutionary War soldier who beheaded a Hessian who happened to be Death of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and now finds himself resurrected in modern Sleepy Hollow thanks to a spell placed on him by his wife, who happened to be a witch. Throw in some police investigation of the supernatural and some great genre actors like Clancy Brown, and what I was afraid was another Once Upon a Time actually turned out to be my favorite new show.
New Fall TV Shows
•October 29, 2013 • 1 CommentI’ve been checking out the new season, and here are my thoughts on the new fall TV shows:
Must Watch List:
1. The Blacklist – I’m really enjoying this show, but I’m starting to think it may have more to do with James Spader (one of my favorite actors) and less to do with the actual show itself. I’m going to keep watching, but I’ll have to see if it pans out in the long run.
2. Sleepy Hollow – Okay, so I DVR’d this show for my wife and daughter because they love Once Upon a Time, but then I heard it was different and, y’know, actually good (sorry, Once fans). So I checked it out with them, and I really like it so far. As long as they can get beyond the monster-of-the-week formula, I think it has enough other things going on to last.
3. Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD – I love Joss Whedon, I love comic books, and I think Clark Gregg is awesome (the dude’s a TV/movie star AND wrote a Harrison Ford movie!), so why was I slightly disappointed in this? Were my expectations too high? Probably. But now that I’ve adjusted them down slightly, I’m enjoying the show more.
4. Almost Human – Hey! This show isn’t even on yet! That’s not fair. Yes it is. It’s J.J. Abrams. It’s a sci-fi cop show starring Dr. McCoy/Judge Dredd. And it has replicants! Okay, so they’re not really replicants, but they’re close enough. Wait…am I setting my expectations too high again?
5. Brooklyn Nine-Nine – I don’t like Andy Samberg. I don’t like cop show comedies. So why do I like this show? Maybe because it’s funny as hell.
Show I really, really want to see, but I only have HBO while Game of Thrones is on the air:
1. Hello, Ladies – Stephen Merchant. Yeah, I don’t need to say more, do I?
Shows I’m watching but don’t mind if I miss them:
1. The Goldbergs – This show is hit-or-miss with me. I think I enjoy the eighties references more than anything, and I’m a fan of Jeff Garlin. But the stories have been pretty cliche and a lot of the jokes fall flat.
2. The Michael J. Fox Show – I’ve been a fan of Michael J. Fox since Family Ties and Back to the Future, and any show with a Breaking Bad actor in it can’t be all bad. I also think it’s great that they found a way to bring Fox back to TV. But it’s just not clicking as much as I’d like it to yet. Hopefully it’ll get better.
3. Trophy Wife – Bradley Whitford was awesome on West Wing and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, and he’s been good in this as well. I think it’s a good show, but the premise just isn’t my cup of tea.
Shows for which the previews/ads are so bad, I can’t imagine watching them:
1. Crazy People – Maybe I’m wrong about this. I was a huge Buffy fan, and I loved Robin Williams when I was a kid. But if the jokes in the commercials are the best they can do, then what’s the point of watching the rest?
2. Dads – Again, a big fan of Seth McFarlane. So why does the thought of checking this show out make me cringe?
3. Pretty much every other show on this list.
Which shows will survive the “To Do List” on my DVR? We’ll have to wait and see.
Best Show Ever?
•October 29, 2013 • Leave a Comment
Now that I’ve had a couple of weeks to separate myself from the Breaking Bad finale and the summer-long binge that led up to it, I feel like I can be a little more objective about the show. And you know what? I’m still thinking it may be the best show ever on television. I thought maybe it was just the excitement and the hype over the series ending, and the fact that I had convinced several of my friends to start watching the show, but I’m not sure that’s the case. Will I feel this way in a few months? In a year? Who knows. But at the moment, I can’t think of a show that’s better (Battlestar Galactica is the only one that comes close, but their finale was somewhat of a let-down). And “Ozymandias” still stands out in my mind as the finest hour of television I’ve ever seen. So…anyone agree? Disagree?
Beware of Spoilers!
•April 26, 2013 • 1 Comment
Star Trek Into Darkness has premiered in Sydney, Australia, and despite JJ Abrams’ pleas, the Internet is getting all leaky with spoilers about the film. So if you really want to know, the truth is out there. If you want to be surprised…better turn off your computer until May 17th.
I had the penultimate show of the season spoiled for Walking Dead when I happened to go the the Huffington Post TV page before seeing the ep, and they had a giant picture of a main character as a zombie plastered at the top of the page…no spoiler alert, nothing to click through, nothing period to protect me from a major plot point bursting forth from my screen. Needless to say, I was pissed.
Author Christopher J. Valin 