‘Halo: Season 1’ Is Not The Best Start For The Video Game-Based Show

Courtesy: Paramount+/Showtime

Early this spring, Showtime and Paramount+ brought Microsoft’s beloved video game Halo to audiences in a brand new streaming series by the same name.  Audiences who don’t stream finally got the chance to see the brand new series for themselves last month when its debut season was released on DVD, Blu-ray and 4K UHD platforms.  The series’ debut season is an intriguing first impression that while not perfect, is worth watching at least once, regardless of audiences’ familiarity with the Halo video game franchise.  The success of the series’ debut season comes in large part through its special effects, which will be addressed shortly.  They give audiences at least some reason to give the series a chance.  While they are an impressive part of the series’ opening act (of sorts), the story at the center of Season 1 is not as strong.  This will be discussed at more length a little later.  It is not enough to doom Season 1.  To that end, there is at least one more positive to note in this season’s presentation.  It comes in the form of the bonus content that accompanies the debut season’s home release, which will also be examined later.  Each item noted here is important in its own way to the whole of the season’s presentation.  All things considered the first season of Halo is not perfect but is still worth watching at least once.

The debut season of Showtime and Paramount+’s Halo streaming series is an interesting first outing for the show, which was adapted from the highly popular Microsoft xBox video game franchise.  The show’s success comes in large part through its special effects.  The balance of the live action and CG elements throughout the series creates a welcome general effect for the presentation.  It is clear when those CG elements are used and when actual sets are used, such as in the asteroid field used by Soren (Bokeem Woodbine – Fargo, Queen & Slim, Spiderman: Homecoming) and the other pirates as their home.  The sets are live action, but the moments when the “cars” travel the wires between the asteroids are clearly CG.  The balance of those moments conjures thoughts (at least to this critic) to the way in which the CG and live action were balanced way back in the 90s in Babylon 5.  That is mean in the most complimentary fashion.  The battle scenes in which audiences watch Master Chief, Kai, Riz and Vannak battle the Covenant monsters were clearly lifted right from the Halo video game.  That is obvious in the heads up displays that are shown as the group shoots the alien beings, and just as much in the fight sequences themselves.  The thing of it is that even as obvious as those incorporations are, knowing they are lifted from the video game makes them bearable.

On yet another note, the prosthetics used to create the Covenant Prophets is another great special effects element used here.  Audiences learn through the bonus content (which will be discussed later), the Prophets are real…or rather, they are real in the fact that they were created through the use of prosthetics by a company called 343 Industries.  The work that went into bringing them to life on screen is so wonderfully comparable to the work of the Jim Henson Creature Shop, which has crafted creates for another well-known sci-fi series, Farscape.  The similarity in style will appeal to fans of both series.  This is just one more of so many ways in which the special effects used here prove to be the most notable positive of the series’ debut season.

While the special effects used in the lead season of Halo are unquestionably impressive, the show’s story is sadly somewhat less impressive.  The story follows as such: John — Master Chief – (Pablo Schreiber — Orange is the New Black, Skyscraper, 13 Hours)  is the ultimate military soldier.  However, after a mission to a colony that comes under attack by the Covenant aliens, something starts to change in him when he touches an artifact found on the planet where the colony is established.  The more John touches the artifact, the more he comes to learn a dark secret about his past that involves the military organization known as UNSC and the not so honorable scientist, Dr. Catherine Halsey (Natascha McElhone – The Truman Show, Solaris, Ronin) who works with the military organization. Eventually, John learns the full truth of who he is and what happened that led him to fight for the UNSC.  Some audiences may think this whole setup is original, but the reality is that it is anything but.  Those familiar with the history of cinema (and television) will immediately find a very close similarity to the setup for Orion Pictures’ 1987 action flick Robocop here.  That is because Officer Murphy (Peter Weller – Robocop 2, The Adventures of Buckaroo Bonzai Across The 8^th Dimension, Naked Lunch) saw something very similar happen to him in that movie.  When Murphy is gunned down by a group of evil drug runners, he is “brought back to life” by OCP when he is turned into a cyborg cop.  When he starts to remember his past, things start to change for him just like things changed for John as both figures start their own journey of rediscovery and growth.  As John learns the truth of what Halsey and the UNSC did to him, he still has to face down the beings from The Covenant and prevent them from using a device that could potentially wipe out all life in the universe.  How many times in science fiction history has a story’s protagonist had to stop evil beings from using some all powerful device to wipe out all life in the universe?  Again, this is nothing new.  To that end, the story becomes even less engaging.  That is because it is really the same story put against a different (albeit very familiar style) backdrop.

The secondary story involving Kwan Ha is just as much of a problem.  That is because her story really ultimately does not entwine with John’s central story, as much as the writers tried to make the two stories work together.  Ha (Yerin Ha – Reef Break, Sissy, Troppo) wants to avenge the death of her father, Jin Ha (Jeong-hwan Kong – Rampant, Designated Survivor: 60 Days, Jeon Woochi). The thing is that even though Jin Ha died at the hands on the Covenant, her attention is more on a separate figure named Vinsher Grath (Burn Gorman – The Expanse, Pacific Rim: Uprising, The Dark Knight Rises).  Grath is an evil overlord of sorts who runs things on the planet where Kwan Ha and her people’s colony was established.  In other words, her story is fully secondary.  There really is no connection whatsoever to John’s story.  What’s more, she never even plays a part in the final outcome of Season 1’s primary story.  It just leaves one wondering why her story was there, other than just to help set up the primary story and nothing more.  Again, keeping this in mind, the overall story in this season of Halo simply proves anything but positive.  Yes, it is worth watching at least once, but really offers nothing outstanding or extraordinary.

Add in the story of yet another sub-story, that of Makee (Charlie Murphy – Happy Valley, Peaky Blinders, The Last Kingdom) and the story becomes even more problematic.  That is because her anti-hero style story is so formulaic in itself.  She starts out as a member of the Covenant, who ends up making “the ultimate sacrifice” by the season’s end because of an eventual revelation about herself and The Covenant.  It is yet another element that has been used and re-used way to often throughout the history of television and movies.  To that end its use here is anything but original.  When this additional story line is added to Kwan Ha’s secondary story and the primary story involving John’s own self-revelation, the whole proves just the same as ever.  So again, the story does little to add anything spectacular to this season.  It does not doom the season but doesn’t add much of anything to the season either.

Knowing Season 1’s overall story does not doom the season’s presentation, there is at least one more positive to note.  That is the season’s bonus content.  The bonus content is contained largely on the season’s fifth disc.  It consists of extras, such as examinations of the show’s costumes, sets, weapons, etc. The feature that examines the Covenant, as noted before, is one of the most notable.  It would have been so easy for the show’s creative forces to just have the Prophets be CG creations, but they didn’t go that route. Rather, they actually took the time to make the Prophets real characters.  It makes for so much appreciation for the work that went into bringing them to life.  The examination of the sets, weapons and costumes are just as enjoyable because audiences see the amount of time and work that went into making everything as believable as possible on screen.  It shows that a lot of effort and time went into paying tribute to fans of the original video game, even if only in terms of the general effect.  To that end, the bonus content that is presentation in Halo Season 1 makes for plenty of engagement and entertainment, as do the special effects. When the two elements are joined, they make up at least to a point for the failing of the season’s collective writing.  Keeping that in mind, it makes this premiere season worth watching at least once.

The debut season of Showtime and Paramount+’s Halo streaming series is a presentation that does not fully live up to expectations.  That is regardless of audiences’ familiarity with the video game franchise on which the show is based.  It is not a total loss, though.  The show’s special effects give audiences reason enough to take in the show and watch at least once.  That is due to the balance of the live action and CG elements.  The overall story, what with its three story lines (technically four if one count’s Soren’s own story), is anything but original.  The interweaving arcs are examples of writing that has been used time and again in dramas and action presentations alike.  They are stories that have been done time and again, just against a new backdrop.  While the overall writing is anything but original, it is not enough to doom the season’s presentation.  That leaves at least one more positive to be noted in the form of the bonus content that comes with Season 1.  The bonus content overall shows the amount of time and work that went into making Season 1’s general effect positive and believable.  The extensive episode discussions that accompany each of the season’s nine total episodes add even more to that appreciation.  When the overall bonus content is joined with the positive of the special effects, the whole makes this season worth watching at least once.

Halo: Season 1 is available now.  More information on this and other series streaming on Paramount+ is available at:

Website: https://paramountplus.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paramountplus

Twitter: https://twitter.com/paramountplus

More information on this and other series on Showtime is available at:

Website: https://showtime.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/showtime

Twitter: https://twitter.com/showtime

To keep up with the latest entertainment reviews and news, go online to https://www.facebook.com/philspicks and “Like” it.  Fans can always keep up with the latest entertainment reviews and news in the Phil’s Picks blog at https://philspicks.wordpress.com. 

Grown-Ups Got Plenty Of TV To Enjoy In 2020

Courtesy: itv/PBS Distribution/PBS

Families nationwide got a lot of worthwhile ways to spend time together during the COVID-19 pandemic this year, thanks to all of the new DVDs, Blu-rays and box sets.  Of course while families got plenty to watch together, grown-ups also needed something of their own to enjoy.  Thankfully this year produced just as much for grown-ups to enjoy as children.  That is why Phil’s Picks is taking a look at what were among the best of this year’s new DVD and Blu-ray box sets for grown-ups.  This year saw a bunch of new content from Warner Brothers and DC, some better than others (E.g. the new Swamp Thing reboot and new seasons of Black Lightning – Black Lightning proved better this year than Swamp Thing, but the latter still proved worth watching at least once.  Itv and PBS presented a rather intriguing new season of itv’s crime drama Endeavour.  The season was okay but left something to be wanted.  The short-lived deep comedy The Good Place finally met its end this year and also received its only full-series release on Blu-ray thanks to the folks at Shout! Factory.  In an even more surprising move, ABC’s hit comedy Modern Family got a full series release this month exclusively through Target.  While not inexpensive, it is a presentation that devotees will appreciate.  It is just one more entry in Phil’s Picks 2020 Top 10 New DVD & Blu-ray Box Sets For Grown-ups category. 

As with every other list from Phil’s Picks, this list features the Top 10 titles in the category along with five honorable mentions for a total of 15 titles.  Without further ado, here is Phil’s Picks 2020 Top 10 new DVD & Blu-ray Box Sets for Grown-Ups.

PHIL’S PICKS 2020 TOP 10 NEW DVD & BLU-RAY BOX SETS FOR GROWN-UPS

1. Endeavour: Season Seven
2. The Good Place: The Complete Series
3. Modern Family: The Complete Series
4. Doctor Who: Season 12
5. The Expanse: Season 4
6. Black Lightning: The Complete Second Season
7. Black Lightning: The Complete Third Season
8. Stargirl: The Complete First Season
9. Mission: Impossible: The Complete Series
10. Gunsmoke: The Complete Series 65^th Anniversary Set
11. Gunsmoke: The Movies
12. Penny Dreadful: City of Angels Season 1
13. Swamp Thing: The Complete Series
14. Star Trek Picard: Season 1
15. The Twilight Zone: Season 1

One more list is up to finish up this year’s lists.  That list is the year’s top new re-issues.  Stay tuned for that.

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‘Penny Dreadful: City Of Angels’ Is Not Dreadful, But Tough To Watch

Courtesy: CBS DVD/Paramount/Showtime/Sky

Showtime and Sky’s Penny Dreadful spin-off City of Angels is an interesting addition to the franchise.  The 10-episode series, which ran for approximately two months this year from April 26 to June 28, is an interesting presentation.  While it only ran for one season, it is a presentation that will find its specific audiences.  That is due in part to the story featured in the program.  This element will be discussed shortly.  While the story does give audiences reason to watch, the general content that accompanies the story unarguably detracts from the show’s presentation to a point.  This will be addressed a little later.  The work of the series’ cast puts the finishing touch to the show’s program.  Together with the story, those two elements are enough to make up for the show’s somewhat overly gritty content and make it worth watching at least once.

Penny Dreadful: City of Angels is an interesting addition to Showtime and Sky’s original Penny Dreadful franchise, which originally launched in 2014 and ran for three seasons. It is a presentation that fans of hard boiled crime dramas will find at least somewhat appealing.  That is proven in part through its expansive story line, which spans the show’s 10-episode run.  Unlike the original series, which is based on a series of Victorian-era monsters and their experiences, City of Angels is centered more on the real world.  The gritty, hard-boiled crime drama takes place in pre-World War II Los Angeles, California.  It follows the murder of a well-to-do white family in Los Angeles.  The murder is initially blamed on members of the city’s Hispanic community, but of course the truth is eventually revealed at the series’ end, not to give away too much.  This frame-up highlights the racial tensions that did in fact exist between the white members of the city’s citizenry and its immigrant population, especially in the interactions between the city’s all-white police force and the members of the city’s Hispanic population.  Adding to the mix is the impact of the Nazi party in the region at the time.  As if that is not enough, Magda, in all of her various forms, keeps the tension high throughout each of the story lines that interweave throughout the series, adding even more intrigue to the story.  Her actions add to the never-ending discussion on whether human behavior and thoughts are innate or are influenced by external factors (I.E. the sociological discussion of nature versus nurture).  This is discussed in the bonus content that accompanies the series’ home release.  That overarching aspect makes for so much interest in this series.  Of course it cannot be denied that through it all, there are moments when all of the story lines do cause the series to get bogged down in itself.  Each of the story lines do ultimately tie together, but because there is so much going on, it was clearly easy for the writers to get lost in their project.  As a result, audiences end up getting a little lost, too.  Luckily that is not enough to completely ruin the series’ presentation, but it also cannot be ignored.  The fact that the story occasionally gets bogged down in itself is just one of the problems from which this series suffers.  Its general content creates its own problem for the its presentation.

Penny Dreadful: City of Angels was intentionally presented as a gritty, hard boiled crime drama.  There is no denying that.  This brand of crime story is nothing new to audiences.  It has been around since at least the early to mid 1920s and 30s.  The thing is that this series takes the general elements of hard boiled crime to a new and somewhat controversial level.  The gruesome fate of the family that was killed is explicit to say the least.  It is reminiscent of Heath Ledger’s look of the Joker in The Dark Knight only far more extreme, complete with blood and gore, oh and nudity.  This is just one over-the-top element of the show’s content.  The overt displays of homosexual (and bi-sexual) intercourse are completely unnecessary, and another way in which the show’s content goes way too far over the top.  As if that is not enough, a moment, such as that in which a police officer’s neck is slashed with a razor and his body left naked and covered in blood (yes, this really is shown) is far too explicit, too.  Between these moments and all of the unnecessary foul language that is used throughout, the general content featured in Penny Dreadful: City of Angels proves to be anything but angelic.  Maybe that is because the show’s heads could get away with it, being on Showtime after all.  Regardless, the noted content (and more) does a great deal to detract from what could have otherwise been a great classic crime hard boiled style crime drama.

For all that the content displayed in Penny Dreadful: City of Angels does to detract from the series’ presentation, it is not enough to make the series completely unwatchable.  The work of the series’ cast on camera works with the story to help save it at least somewhat.  Most notable of the cast is star Nathan Lane.  The veteran actor, Lane serves as a supporting cast member here.  Even as a supporting cast member, he still shines both by himself and alongside fellow cast member Daniel Zovatto (It Follows, Lady Bird, Don’t Breathe).  Lane is known typically as a comedic actor, but his dramatic turn here is so powerful.  When he’s by himself, he stands out so much because he takes the full chance to let Michener’s personality develop.  His years of experience on stage and screen comes through fully and fully entertaining.  When he is working alongside Zovatto, who shines in his own right as Tiago, he never tries to outdo the younger actor.  Rather, the duo works so well together, sort of building their characters’ personalities together.  Natalie Dormer meanwhile shines in her own way as Magda as she takes on her various roles.  Among the best of her moments comes as she portrays Alex, clerk to Councilman Townsend.  The way in which she basically plays him is classic clerk to an evil business.  At the same time, she makes her evil intentions just barely noticeable enough really balance things out and make her character so wonderfully despicable.  Going back to Zovatto, the way he presents Tiago’s personal identity struggles as he works with the police and tries to balance that with his identity as a Latino is moving in its own right.  There are moments when he hams it up a little too much, but for the most part, he takes on his portrayal quite well.  In the same vein, the way in which Tiago’s police counterparts take on their roles is fully believable, too.  There is no way that doing and saying what they did could have possibly been easy, but sadly there is a lot of reality about those racial tensions even in that era.  To that point, the actors made it easy to have a strong dislike for their characters and their awful behavior.  That means that they did a good job of showing the vile nature of how horribly they treated minorities even back then, so they are to be commended for that, as difficult as it must have been, morally.  Taking in the performances noted here, that of Lane’s fellow veteran actor Brent Spiner (who does well in a rare non-Star Trek role), and those of all others involved, it can be said easily that the work of the series’ cast plays well into the overall presentation of Penny Dreadful: City of Angels.  Together with the story, they do just enough to counter the questionable content featured within the story, and make the series worth watching at least once.

Showtime and Sky Network’s short-lived series Penny Dreadful: City of Angels is an interesting addition to the franchise, which started six years ago as a fantasy type series.  Its overall story, which incorporates multiple story lines does relatively well to engage audiences.  Given those story lines do bog the series down at times, but not enough to make the series a failure.  The content that is displayed throughout the series does quite a bit to make it difficult to watch, as has been noted here.  It goes way above and beyond the content presented in classic hard boiled detective novels and movies, basically throwing it all out the window just for the sake of having something shocking.  It really is the series’ biggest detractor and makes the series difficult to watch more than once.  The work of the series’ cast works with the story to make up for the problems created by the content at least somewhat.  Those two elements are positives, and do make up for the problems posed through the content to a point.  Taking everything noted here collectively, Penny Dreadful: City of Angels is a powerful addition to Showtime and Sky Network’s franchise that crime drama fans will find worth watching at least once.  Hopefully if another addition to the franchise comes along, it will not be as explicit as this series and worth far more.  If not, then the franchise has closed out on a difficult note.  It is available now.

More information on this and other programs from Showtime is available online at:

Website: http://www.sho.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/showtime

Twitter: http://twitter.com/Showtime

To keep up with the latest entertainment reviews and news, go online to http://www.facebook.com/philspicks and “Like” it.  Fans can always keep up with the latest entertainment reviews and news in the Phil’s Picks blog at https://philspicks.wordpress.com.  

Escape From Planet Earth A Fun Escape For Families

Courtesy: Anchor Bay Entertainment/The Weinstein Company

Escape from Planet Earth (Anchor Bay Entertainment/Weinstein Company) was released to theaters in February 2013.  Not surprisingly, it didn’t last very long in theaters after its premiere.  The reason(s) why it didn’t last are anyone’s guess.  But the most probable of reasons would be its comparison to the 2009 family friendly CG “animated” sci-fi comedy, Planet 51.  There is no denying the comparisons to said story.  But in its defense, Planet 51 isn’t the only movie from which Escape from Planet Earth lifted.  There are also influences from the likes of Monsters, Inc. and Monsters vs. Aliens throughout this movie.  And while it does lift from previous movies, it does have some originality in terms of its messages and its comic elements.  Those comic elements include the sci-fi and pop culture spoofs made much in the same vein as in Planet 51.  The spoofs aren’t the same as in Planet 51, either.  This makes them that much funnier and helps to make up for the story’s less original aspects.

It’s difficult to honestly write this and call Escape from Planet Earth the most original movie of its kind.  That’s because of the fact that it can so easily be compared to the 2009 family friendly sci-fi comedy, Planet 51.  On the surface, Escape From Planet Earth can so easily be considered to be Planet 51 in reverse.  Instead of the human astronaut trying to escape from the alien planet, this time, it’s the aliens trying to escape Earth.  It’s not the only movie to which this work can be compared.  It can also be compared to Disney/Pixar’s Monsters, Inc. (2001).  The comparison to that movie comes in the form of General Shanker’s (William Shatner—Star Trek) soldiers.  A close look at the men will bring viewers to note that his men are always running around in yellow, rubber hazmat suits that cover their entire bodies, including their faces.  This is very much in the same style as the agents of the Child Detection Agency from Monsters, Inc.  And the general story itself makes it just as easily compared to Dreamworks’ Monsters vs. Aliens.  It’s just that movie as much in reverse as Planet 51 in reverse.  Knowing all of these influences takes away quite a bit from the movie.  But for all that is taken away from it, Escape From Planet Earth isn’t without its positives.

Writers Cal Brunker and Bob Barlen (hmmmmm Bob, planet Bob…..coincidence?) did a lot of lifting from other previous CG based family friendly sci-fi flicks to make Escape from Planet Earth.  For all of the comparisons that can be made, what can be said of this creation is that it does still manage to save itself.  It saves itself thanks to its theme of family bonds and its pop culture and sci-fi spoofs made throughout the nearly ninety minute movie.  The theme of the family bond is something that those other family films don’t have.  So this serves to help set this movie apart from those movies and give it its own identity.

Just as the movie’s theme of family bonds helps to set it apart from other movies of its ilk, the pop culture and sci-fi references made throughout the movie help to set it apart even more.  The jokes are quite plentiful throughout the course of the movie’s run time.  There are jokes about classic 1950s sci-fi flicks, conspiracy theories and even a subtle stab at director James Cameron.  It’s so subtle that if a person isn’t really watching closely, one will miss it.  Those that catch it will truly appreciate it, considering Cameron’s reputation when it comes to science fiction movies.  There are far more subtle jokes and pokes that are peppered throughout the movie.  And those that give this movie a chance will appreciate the movie even more for them.  In turn, they will see that while it may not be the most original movie in its genre, it really is a movie that is worth at least one watch.  It is available now on DVD and Blu-ray in stores and online and can be ordered online direct from the Anchor Bay Entertainment website at http://www.anchorbayentertainment.com/detail.aspx?projectID=5b081188-3392-e211-b3c9-d4ae527c3b65.  Fans can also check in on all of the latest updates on new releases from Anchor Bay Entertainment at http://www.anchorbayentertainment.com.

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The Trouble With Bliss An Underrated Dramedy

Courtesy: Anchor Bay Entertainment/Lightning Media/7A Productions/Topiary Productions, Inc./OffHollywood/Tornsky Entertainment

The Trouble With Bliss is both a funny and touching dramedy that while not the first movie to ever enter the world of the coming-of-age genre, still manages to stand on its own two feet.  The story, which is based on Douglas Light’s novel, East Fifth Bliss, has largely been met with mixed reviews by critics and audiences alike.  More than likely the reason for those mixed reviews is that while the story isn’t the first of the coming-of-age genre, it doesn’t exactly fit into the standard mold of said style.  The concept of an unemployed thirty-something living at home with his father while dating an eighteen-year old is humorous.  But what sets the story apart from others in its genre is its ability to balance that quirky standard story with the deeper and more emotional father-son dynamic, which is ultimately at the heart of the entire story.  Though, this isn’t made entirely clear until the story’s end.  This perhaps is what led to so many critics and viewers panning this underrated story.   

The Trouble With Bliss is an underrated story in that it’s one of those works that isn’t spoon-fed to viewers.  Audiences think they know everything about Morris’ blissfully (get the title now?) ignorant lifestyle through most of the movie.  But it isn’t until the story’s end that viewers discover that instead of living in bliss, he has been living in denial all along.  That denial is centered in his relationship—or lack thereof—with his father (played by Peter Fonda).  He isn’t stuck at home with his father.  He has made the choice to live there. It can be argued in understanding this and looking back at the story that it is his mother not being there that has led Morris to be living with his father at thirty-five years old and dating an eighteen-year old.  Having only had his father for parental guidance through his youth, that was all that Morris ever knew.  So it became his comfort zone.  Understanding this makes Morris something of an underdog type of figure; a sympathetic character so to speak.  He becomes a figure that audiences might not have rooted for had they not had this knowledge.  What really makes his an underdog figure in hindsight is why his mother is not in the picture.  That reveal in the story’s final minutes is perhaps the culmination of everything that audiences experienced leading up to that point.

Some audiences might ask if this is the case, why he started acting as an adult before that moment.  The answer is that what happened as a result of his interactions with Stephanie and Andrea was just the catalyst that he had needed to start realizing and growing as a person.  His whole life up until that point was ignorant bliss.  Finally having been faced with a situation that forced him out of his comfort zone, it acted as a kick in the pants so to speak. That eventually lead to the deepest center of what had led to his first introduction to audiences.  The result is that it leads to hindsight among audiences and in turn will lead them to see he’s really quite the underdog character.  And in understanding all of this one can only hope that those who criticized the movie will take all of this hindsight and give the movie a second chance and see it for the underrated and underappreciated work that it is.

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