Courtesy: Activision/Infinity Ward

Courtesy: Activision/Infinity Ward

Mark your calendars, gamers.  On November 5^th, 2013, the latest installment in the highly successful Call of Duty franchise will be released. In anticipation of the game, the very first trailer for Call of Duty: Ghosts has been released.  It made its debut this morning at Microsoft’s press event announcing what gamers can expect to come out this Fall.  The trailer shows that this proves to be the biggest game in the franchise yet.  Gamers get to go through big cities, jungle backdrops, and even more throughout the course of this upcoming game.  Its graphics live up to the expectations created by the series’ previous installments.

Courtesy: Activision/Infinity Ward

Here’s the gist of the storyline according to Mark Rubin, Executive Producer at Infinity Ward.  The game’s creators worked with Traffic and Syriana writer Stephen Gaghan on the story.  What players get in this new installment is a world n which the United States military has been devastated by a giant event.  The nation’s government is for all intents and purposes, in shambles.  Players get to play as one of the remaining U.S. military forces against those that caused all of this death and destruction.  The Ghosts are “ghost soldiers.”  They are the elite of the elite, the ultimate cream of the crop.  Fans who want even more info on the game, from its plot to everything on how the game came to life, they can check out a behind the scenes featurette on the game now at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B00xKmtyfaY.

Courtesy: Activision/Infinity Ward

The mix of the trailer’s music bed and voice-over declaring, “We are ghosts, fighting for something that can’t be killed” will send chills up anyone’s spines, gamer or not.  Fans can check it out for themselves now, online right here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zxnx3W-HA18.  Also provided throughout this article is just a handful of shots from the game that is to come this holiday shopping season.  So check it out, and spread the word to the gamers of the world.  Call of Duty: Ghosts is coming!

Courtesy: Activision/Infinity Ward

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Courtesy: Starz/Anchor Bay Entertainment

Airheads is one of the most underappreciated comedies of the 90s.  This spoof on the inner workings of the music industry is one that every movie and music lover should see at least once.  This is regardless of what genre of music one listens to.  And thanks to Starz and Anchor Bay Entertainment, everybody can enjoy this undervalued movie once again.  It will be re-issued next Tuesday, May 28^th on Blu-ray.

Everybody by now knows how difficult it is to break out in the music industry.  So when three hard working musicians are turned down too many times by record label reps who barely give their demo tape the slightest listen, the trio—Brendan Fraser, Steve Buscemi, and Adam Sandler—known as “The Lone Rangers” decide to take a drastic step and hold a radio station  hostage.  Ironically, the deejay on staff at the time (played by Joe Mantegna—The Simpsons, Criminal Minds, Joan of Arcadia) ends up actually helping the young musicians as he has become so jaded by the music that he is forced to play by the station manager.  Making things even worse is the revelation that the manager (played by fellow veteran actor Michael McKean) was going to sell the station and change its format, effectively laying off everyone on staff.  Thus ensues an absolutely hilarious poke at those in the highest positions of power within the music business.

Steve Buscemi, Adam Sandler and Brendan Fraser have all gone on to relatively stable success, playing both more comedic roles and some very dramatic roles since the original release of Airheads in 1994.  But there is no denying the chemistry that the trio had in playing their roles together.  Nor is there denying how much fun they must have had, too.  There is not one moment throughout the movie’s roughly hour and a half run time that doesn’t generate its share of laughs.  This includes the late Chris Farley’s scene in which his character Wilson rips the nipple ring off of a man who was making fun of Wilson.  The reaction both by Wilson and the man to this is absolutely hilarious.  That and other moments are more proof that Farley was just as good on the big screen as he was as a cast member of Saturday Night Live.  The same can be said of his cast mate, Adam Sandler.  On a side note, Saturday Night Live hasn’t been as good to this day as it was in the 90s.  When the last member of that cast left, that show went downhill.

The primary story of “The Lone Rangers” taking over the radio station will keep any comedy lover engaged throughout the story.  It’s obvious that no one either behind the cameras or in front of them, had any intention of taking themselves seriously.  That’s a big part of why this was such a fun story.  It is just as obvious how much fun the cast and crew had when Ian The Shark (Joe Mantegna) goes off on Milo when he finds out that Milo was going to sell the station.  It would have been funny to see a gag reel showing how many takes it had to have taken for that one scene, everything else aside.  What many people don’t realize about the music industry is just how much radio personalities hate the music that comes through their headphones.  Nearly twenty years after the movie’s debut, Ian’s statement that so much of the music sounds the same rings true.  Making things worse is station program directors who are scared to death of trying anything new and different, I.E. Milo.  It’s one of those timeless stories to which so many hopeful musicians can relate.  Every struggling musician has reached the point of desperation because of those in positions of power.  But none have ever gone to the lengths which “The Lone Rangers” went.  Keeping that in mind, Airheads becomes one of those matters of circumstantial comedy that for once is actually funny and will be for another near two decades and then some.  It will be available next Tuesday on DVD and Blu-ray and can be ordered direct via the Anchor Bay Entertainment website at http://www.anchorbayentertainment and sign up for the store.

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Courtesy: Izod Indycar Series

Memorial Day and Memorial Day weekend will be a big one for fans of basketball.  The WNBA kicks up its 2013-2014 season in a big way across ABC and the ESPN family of networks.  Fans of auto racing get to celebrate the weekend with the annual celebration of the Indianapolis 500, live from Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS).  ABC will broadcast the annual race this Sunday, May 26^th live for the forty-ninth consecutive year.  The race will be preceded by a one-hour pre-race telecast at 11am ET presented by Go Daddy.  The green flag is expected to drop at 12:15pm ET.

The broadcast of the race will incorporate eighty-four different cameras including three each on board twelve of the thirty-three cars entered for the Izod Indy Car Series premier race.  Those drivers who will be carrying in car cameras will be: Defending race winner Dario Franchitti and defending IndyCar Series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay. Others will be Charlie Kimball, JR Hildebrand, James Hinchcliffe, Townsend Bell, Will Power, Helio Castroneves, Marco Andretti, Graham Rahal and Tristan Vautier.  Veteran racer Ed Carpenter will also carry one of the in-car cameras.

Audiences can also get a view of pit road and the front stretch thanks to the enhanced “Batcam” (skycam).  The “Batcam” runs on a wire overhead pit road and the front stretch at IMS.  The “Batcam” has been used by ESPN for many years.  But with its new enhancements, it can now fly over the track at speeds upwards of ninety-five miles per hour.  Four Ultra Hi Motion cameras placed around the track will give viewers an amazing view of the race.  The cameras, which will be used for the second consecutive year, will be placed in the short chutes at each end of the two and a half mile track.  There will also be a camera in the fourth turn exit, and one robotic camera placed at the entrance to turn one.  Along with the cameras, which can shoot at a rate of up to 1,200 frames per second, each turn will also have a Super Slo Motion camera.

Thanks to ESPN3, fans watching the race will get the option of streaming live video on a second screen.  The live streaming feeds will be available via ESPN’s WatchESPN and WatchESPN app.  ESPN3 is available online via http://www.WatchESPN.com.  Viewers watching online via ESPN3’s second screen can cwitch between in-car cameras.  For the first time this year, fans watching online can also check out the live scoring ticker.  ESPN3 will also carry a rebroadcast of the race after it ends on ABC.

Marty Reid will have the lap-by-lap call, while ESPN SportsCenter anchor Lindsay Czarniak will serve as race host.  Former driver Scott Goodyear and 1998 Indy 500 winner Eddie Cheever will be on hand for analysis.  Rick DeBruhl, Jamie Little, Dr. Jerry Punch, and Vince Welch will report from the pits.

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Courtesy: Savannah Music Festival/Roger Day/Sea Grant Georgia

Roger Day’s new DVD Marsh Mud Madness is a nice tool for teachers to use with their young students when teaching about biology and science classes.  The DVD is a live performance of Day and his band mates at the Savannah Music Festival at the Trustees Theater in Savanna, Georgia.  The live performance is mixed with footage of Day’s trip down to the University of Georgia’s Marine Institute on Sapelo Island.  While it is a live recording, young audiences can still learn from Day’s performance via the DVD.  Teachers are given additional resources thanks to links to study guides provided online at http://georgiaseagrant.uga.edu/article/RogerDay.

The study guides provided as additional tools are a useful addition for teachers, to this recording.  The recording itself is quite successful.  Those behind the DVD’s creation did an impressive job separating the songs through the footage of Day’s time out with the University of Georgia’s Marine Institute.  Separating the songs in this fashion makes the program easy to follow.  The extra footage serves a secondary purpose here, too.  That secondary purpose is to promote conservation of the country’s marine habitats.  The thing of it is that this is not done as blatantly as it might be done by certain other performers.  It’s not as preachy in that fashion.  Of course there is a little bit of a fun moment as Day sings about the infamous scourge of the seas that was Blackbeard A.K.A. Edward Teach.

Having noted one positive aspect of this live recording, one has only one other direction to go.  That direction is in noting the performance itself.  Younger audiences will enjoy watching it and even dancing around with the audience in attendance.  Parents and teachers alike will enjoy Day’s ‘YMCA’ style sing-along in the concert’s opener, ‘I Love to Study Mud.’  It’s not the only song that gets his audiences moving, either.  Whether in the classroom or in the living room, young audiences will love to sing and dance along with the kids in attendance.  And with any luck, watching this performance will even get those same young audiences interested in learning more about the animals in our country’s marine habitats and why it’s important to protect them.

Marsh Mud Madness will be available soon.  Audiences can get more information on it and all the latest news and tour dates from Roger Day on his official website, http://www.rogerday.com and on his official Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/RogerDayMusic.

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Courtesy: Shout! Factory/Hub

The latest release from the Hub network’s Pound Puppies series is just as fun as the previous pair of DVDs.  This new release offers audiences five more episodes filled with entertainment and important lessons for both kids and their parents.  Also included in this new collection of episodes is an adoption certificate that kids can print out and fill out for their very own.  Just as impressive as the set’s episodes is the continued original artwork used throughout the series.  Anyone that remembers Cartoon Network’s Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends, will recognize the animation used for this series once again.  Altogether, these factors make Pound Puppies Mission: Adoption just as fun as the previous collections of episodes from this update of the classic 80s series.

This latest release is so much enjoyable first and foremost because of the mix of entertainment and life lessons in each of its five episodes.  Of course the inclusion of some well-known voice actors doesn’t hurt, either.  This time out, audiences learn that even the smallest dog…er…person can accomplish great feats.  This lesson is taught in the episode, “Snow Problem.”  When a young husky puppy named Tundra ends up with the Pound Puppies, he and the others take on a group of bigger, tougher dogs in a sled race that ends up with the young pup winning the heart of one of the racers and being adopted.  The spoof of the famed song, ‘Chariots of Fire’ is a nice addition to this episode.  Viewers also learn that superstitions are superstitions for a reason in “Taboo.”  When they meet the puppy named Taboo, the Pound Puppies discover why it is that he’s had such a hard time finding his person.  Viewers will have to find out the truth behind his adoption problems for themselves when they pick up this new release.  Viewers will especially enjoy the Wizard of Oz reference in this episode.  In the disc’s opener, “King of the Heap”, one of the Pound Puppies is adopted by Junkyard Jim, instead of the newest additions to the pound named Elvis (voiced by Clancy Brown—Mr. Krabs from Spongebob Squarepants).  This episode teaches viewers that it’s best to be themselves, rather than something that they’re not.  Being one’s own self is what people admire most.  The show’s writers are to be commended for these lessons, and the others included here along with its more fun moments.  On a side note, voice actor John DiMaggio is back again as the voice of Niblet.  Considering that Futurama is coming to an end yet again, hopefully Hub will keep this show around as he does quite the job as Niblet’s voice.

The collection of fun moments and lessons culled for the episodes in this latest set make it fun for the whole family.  Older audiences will appreciate this set for more than just those factors, though.  They will also enjoy the animation style used throughout the series.  It’s quite similar to Cartoon Network’s former cartoon, Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends.  What makes this animation style so impressive is that even if it was done via computer, its quality is such that it’s difficult to tell if it was done by hand, by computer, or a combination of both.  If it was done by both computer and by hand, then it proves that the two animation styles can exist side by side.  And that both styles can exist side by side, one can only hope that audiences will get much more of this style of animation and mix of fun and lessons in even more volumes of Pound Puppies episodes.  Pound Puppies Mission: Adoption is available now in stores and online.  It can be purchased online direct via the Shout! Factory store at http://www.shoutfactory.com/?q=node/216951.

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Courtesy: Paramount/Marvel

When is a man not a man?  A man is not a man only when he gives up.  That is what those who have not yet seen Marvel’s new blockbuster Iron Man 3 need to remember when going into this movie.  Many of those who have seen this movie have complained that the movie didn’t feature enough of Tony in his suit; that it was essentially more melodrama than movie.  Here’s the thing.  Just as start Robert Downey Junior noted in recent reviews, he can’t keep doing the same thing over and over again.  He meant that in terms of playing Iron Man/Tony Stark again in a potential Iron Man 4 and/or Avengers 2.  But the reality is that those comments apply within the context of Iron Man 3 itself, too.  Fans have seen Tony Stark don his armor time and again in the first two movies in this franchise.  And for the most part, his armor has done the same sort of feats.  So seeing Tony lose everything, including his suits (albeit temporarily) and forced to rely on just his wits was actually a nice change of pace.  It showed that while he may not have been a superhero for much of the movie, he was still a hero and no less a man.   That’s because he didn’t give up.  He didn’t even let anxiety attacks hold him down.  These are messages that any viewer, comic book fan or not, should take away from this movie.

The messages contained within Iron Man 3 are just one positive aspect to this movie.  While it’s hardly perfect, the fan boys and fan girls that have lambasted it for its surprise regarding The Mandarin and the Extremis story arc have gone into the movie with too much of a closed mind.  They perhaps didn’t catch that Writer/Director Shane Black and his Co-Writer Drew Pearce did in fact poke fun at themselves indirectly concerning this matter.  When the truth is revealed about The Mandarin, Rhodey asks Tony, “This is The Mandarin?!”  Tony retorts with one of so many wisecracks that audiences have come to love from him.  Those that are open minded enough will appreciate that this short moment is actually Pearce and Black’s way of beating the fan boys and fan girls to the punch in hopes that it will get them to laugh at the story changes with them.  Though, in defense of the fan boys and fan girls, it is a bit of a slap in their faces to turn The Mandarin into the minor figure that Black and Pearce did.  Maybe in any future installments, audiences will get The Mandarin that they deserve.

Any viewer that can accept the story changes to Iron Man 3 will appreciate the eventual reward in the movie’s final climactic battle scene between Tony, Rhodey, and Killian.  There are those that say this final showdown is the movie’s only real good part.  But as already noted there is much more to be taken away from the movie.  Seeing all the armor from Tony’s “Hall of Armor” lets audiences know that regardless of whether RDJ returns for Iron Man 4 or Avengers 2, odds are audiences will still see Iron Man return with much more armor and action in future installments.  After all, certain parties noted that the most recent take on The Incredible Hulk would be the last one for a while.  But obviously that’s now been proven false as the not so Jolly Green Giant is apparently back on the table again for Marvel’s next phase.  So even if RDJ is done (as he seemed to note even within the context of the movie), it would be no surprise if Shellhead returns with someone else donning the Iron Man suit….or suits?

As one can tell by now, there is plenty for which Iron Man 3 should be applauded.  For all of its positives, there are some negatives.  The first of those negatives is the movie’s pacing.  Its run time is roughly two hours and fifteen minutes.  But it feels like it is much longer.  Unlike its competitor, Star Trek Into Darkness, Iron Man 3 felt like (just as with DC’s The Dark Knight Rises), Black and Pearce were trying way too hard to cram everything they could into this one last installment so as to close the trilogy.  What’s more, incorporating multiple villains, as so many of the comic based movies have done in recent years, only added to the movie’s length.  It would have been much easier to simply stick with Killian as the main villain.  After all, audiences are hand delivered early on the fact that Killian would be the main villain.  The extra storyline may lead some viewers to find themselves checking their watches every now and then, wondering when the two hour plus movie will finally end.  And because of this, it will ultimately leave some viewers realizing that this key issue has and will forever keep Iron Man 3 from being the movie that it was hyped up to be.  Rather, it will keep Iron Man 3 little more than another transition point to Marvel’s next property, just like its comic books.

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Courtesy: ESPN

The 2013-2014 WNBA season starts next Monday.  And it all kicks off with a double header on ABC.  The double header will feature the top four teams from this year’s WNBA draft presented by State Farm.  It all starts with a match between the Washington Mystics and Tulsa Shock at 3pm ET.  The Chicago Sky and Phoenix Mercury follow at 5pm ET.  Along with the games, ESPN will offer an in-depth look at course taken by the league’s top picks—The “3 To See–from college to the pros.  The “3 To See” are Elena Delle Donne (Delaware to Chicago Sky), Skylar Diggins (Notre Dame to Tulsa Shock), and Brittney Griner (Baylor to Phoenix Mercury).

ABC’s double header matchup is just part of Monday’s season opening celebration of the WNBA.  ESPN Classic will air a Memorial Day weekend marathon featuring a series of games featuring the “3 To See.”  The full slate of games is listed below.

ESPN Classic Memorial Day “3 to See” Marathon

Fans of the WNBA will also get to see the return of the Boost Mobile WNBA All-Star Game on July 27^th.  The game will air that day at 3:30pm ET on ABC live from the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, CT.

The team of Pam Ward, Rebecca Lobo, and Carolyn Peck return once again this season to call the games, with Ward calling the play-by-play action.  Holly Rowe and LaChina Robinson will serve as reporters for select games.  Sue Bird—seven-time WNBA All-Star and two-time WNBA Champion with the Seattle Storm—will join the broadcast team this season from the ESPN Studio.  This includes the opening day double header.  Bird is sidelined this season while she recovers from left knee surgery.

The full season schedule is available below:

2013 WNBA Regular-Season Schedule (subject to change)

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Courtesy: Mill Creek Entertainment

Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad is perhaps one of the campiest of the shows from the 90s wave of shows adapted from Japan’s super-powered kids’ shows.  The show only lasted one season from September 12, 1994 – April 11, 1995; right at the internet’s infancy.  That is evident through the fight sequences that take place inside the digital world.  The sets are just as campy as the writing and acting.  But for anyone that grew up during the early 90’s, that campy vibe was something great in that era.  So now that Mill Creek Entertainment has re-issued the first half of the show’s only season, fans of this classic kids’ action series can re-live their childhood while introducing their own kids to part of their own childhood at the same time.

While this competitor to Saban’s hugely popular Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers only lasted a single season, it had some similarities to the aforementioned show, it can at least be said of this cross between Ultraman and MMPR that had some originality.  For starters, Sam and his friends were more believable and relatable to younger viewers at the time.  That’s because they looked and acted more like average teens, unlike the cast of MMPR. Also, rather than facing off against interstellar baddies, Sam (played by a then very young Matthew Lawrence) and his friends have to go into the digital world to face off against Kilokahn and the viruses created by his human helper, Malcolm Frank.  Many of the battles fought by Sam and his friends are the result of Malcolm’s hatred for Sam.  Malcolm’s intentions are largely as a competitor for the affections of a young lady.  Kilokahn’s intentions are the standard world domination schemes.  So both having evil intentions, it only made sense for the pair to team up and do so much damage to the digital world, and in turn, the real world.

The acting of the show’s cast and the show’s storylines are campy to say the least.  But they’re not as over the top as those in certain other Japanese imports, either.  The same can be said of the show’s sets and special effects, too.  The show’s sets and special effects are just as campy as the acting and writing.  But just as the campy acting and writing make this a guilty pleasure for any viewer that grew up with this show, so are the sets and special effects.  Together with the acting and writing, and even the relatable teen challenges tied into each episode, this re-issue of Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad Season 1 Volume 1 a great addition to the library of any child of the 90s.

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Courtesy: Paramount

Star Trek Into Darkness is one of the best movies of the Summer 2013 movie season.  However, for all of its successes, there is no denying that it is not a perfect work.  The movie, which clocks in at just over two hours keeps audiences engaged from the story’s opening moments.  And that is thanks in large part to following the standard Summer blockbuster formula.  Here’s where things get dicey, and some of this critic’s fellow Trek fans might be angered.  To those potentially angered readers, please read this entire review before attacking.

One of the biggest factors in the success of Star Trek Into Darkness is that much like its predecessor, audiences don’t have to know the rich history of Gene Roddenberry’s creation that started with Star Trek: The Original Series (TOS).  Its references to the movie franchise’s reboot were so few that audiences that have yet to see that movie need not worry about having seen it in order to enjoy this story.  Director J.J. Abrams and his staff of writers did an impressive job in keeping this tradition alive from the movies based on both TOS and TNG.  Though, those that are long-time fans of both Star Trek TOS and the long running movie franchise will enjoy it just as much as TOS and the movie franchise’s reboot.  Long-time fans will enjoy the reference in this movie to the famed Troubles with Tribbles episode from TOS.  Long-time fans will enjoy seeing actor Leonard Nimoy reprise his role as the original Spock just as much (not to reveal too much).  That’s right.  Leonard Nimoy is back once again.  And long-time fans will love how Abrams and company poke fun at themselves with his re-appearance.  How they go about doing so will be kept under wraps so as to not spoil another positive moment from an overall impressive work.

Director J.J. Abrams and his staff of writers did an impressive job making a story that much like the movies from TOS and TNG, doesn’t require knowledge of the previous movie to be enjoyed.  This and the references to TOS played important roles in this movie’s success.  Just as much cause for success was the personal growth of Chris Pine’s Kirk and Zachary Quinto’s Spock.  Kirk starts off in this movie the same brash almost Tom Cruise “Maverick” style figure as they were introduced to in the series’ 2009 reboot.  It would be impossible to explain this without spoiling at least one aspect of the movie.  That aspect would be that Admiral Pike is killed off.  In his death, audiences finally see Kirk grow as a person.  They see what was obviously the relationship of a son and his (for all intents and purposes) surrogate father in Pike.  Audiences also see the relationship between Spock and Kirk grow even more from their initial meeting in the 2009 reboot.  This is perhaps one of very few aspects of this work that would require viewers to have seen the previous film in order to appreciate it.  Theirs are the only relationships that show any growth from the previous installment in the franchise.  That’s not an entirely bad thing.  Simon Pegg is as funny as ever in his role as Scotty.  And the relationship between Scotty, Kirk, Spock and Bones produces more than its share of laughs once again.

For everything that makes Star Trek Into Darkness such a success, it isn’t without its faults.  This story has plenty of comical moments between cast members; enough that they would make quite the blooper reel in the movie’s home release.  But one can’t help but look back on the movie and realize just how much running around and yelling filled most of the story.  There was so much that in hindsight, it makes for more than enough fodder for Saturday Night Live’s writers to spoof.  Thankfully for the movie’s staff of writers, all the running around and yelling wasn’t enough to overpower the story’s main plot that while not overly original, is still nicely updated.  It’s a story that is well worth its time overall, whether one is an experienced Star Trek fan or not.

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Courtesy: Universal Studios/Focus Features

Hyde Park on Hudson is one of the least enjoyable movies of 2012 and just as uninteresting now that is has been released to DVD and Blu-ray.  The problem with this attempt at a semi-biopic is the lack of balance between the story of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s relationship with his mistress Margaret “Daisy” Stuckley and that of the visit by King George and his wife, Queen Elizabeth.  The script attempts to tie the two storylines together.  But in that effort, writer Richard Nelson and director Roger Michell have instead crafted a story that ends up plodding along at a near snail’s pace all while not really amounting to anything by the time it ends.  The story is narrated by what is supposed to be Margaret Suckley, explaining her relationship.  Herein lies another issue with the story.  Because it is told from the vantage point of “the other woman”, there’s no way to ignore the comparison to the Madonna helmed W./E.  Just as the latter was an art film, this movie comes across the same way, eventually amounting to nothing.

The initial comparison to W./E. is only one problem with Hyde Park on Hudson.  Anyone that has any knowledge of presidential history or even the slightest interest in said history know that Roosevelt was just one of so many political figures that has been anything but faithful in their marriage.  Keeping this in mind, it makes the storyline of FDR’s relationship with his mistress–and only certain people knowing about it—all the less interesting.  Had the story been more focused and aimed perhaps at the political relationship between the British royals and the President, it might have actually had more substance about it.  But sadly, Nelson opts instead for the more dramatized side of things, going more for the intended soap opera that surrounded FDR and his mistress, again causing the story’s pacing to drag along slowly, and thus leave audiences feel robbed of their time.

For all of the negatives surrounding Hyde Park on Hudson, it does have at least one positive.  That positive would be its backdrops and associated cinematography.  The beautiful countryside backdrops of the story are beautiful.  And thanks to the expert work of the movie’s film crew, those backdrops became the real stars of the movie; even more so than lead star Bill Murray who did quite the job of portraying the late President.  Murray’s portrayal leaves one wondering if he did so well, then how much better could this script have been had Nelson and Michell come to terms on which story was more important.  But because of Hollywood’s seemingly insatiable appetite for prequels, sequels, and reboots, one can only hope that should the story of Roosevelt’s “secret” ever be retold, it will star Murray again, but actually have more worth seeing.

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