Tuesday, November 30, 2010

The Walking Dead, Season 1, Episode 4


Last week, our survivors found that Merle had cut off his hand and escaped from the rooftop. This week's episode begins with Daryl getting angry and taking the hand with him. He insists that they look for Merle. Cut to the camp and one of the group, Jim is digging graves. Another survivor, Dale(Jeffrey DeMunn) is worried about him. He thinks that he is losing it.Meanwhile, Rick and the others are looking for Merle and the bag of guns which Rick left behind when he was attacked by zombies in the first episode.


 At the camp, Shane tries to talk to Jim who is acting crazy.Jim wants to be left alone. He argues with Shane and he feels guilty because his fmaily is dead and he is alive.Back to Rick and company- they are trying to get the guns when they run into some Mexicans who attack them and take Glenn hostage. Daryl manages to catch one of their gang and he asks him questions about where the gang are and where they are holding Glenn. The boss of the gang is called G and the gang member leads them to the hideout where they have Glenn. They try and trade Glenn for the gang member and there are guns pulled. The gang want the bag of guns but Rick is not going to give them up.


Rick and the others go into this warehouse where the gang  have their lair and there are loads of surviviors there too. They realise that there is an old people's home in the back and the gang are protecting all of the elderly people. They are not bad people after all. G is trying to keep his people safe.Rick gives them some of the guns and ammo. They release Glenn. They go outside and realise that their truck has gone and that Merle must have taken it. Back at the camp, Jim is tied up for his own safety,but Shane talks to him and calms him down. He unties him.The others are heading back to the camp. Before they get there, the camp is overrun by walkers. People are attacked from all angles and they have to fight to survive.Rick and the others get back just as everyone is screaming and shooting. Amy gets bitten and she dies....

Monday, November 29, 2010

Leslie Nielsen 1926-2010

We at Jigsaw's Lair are saddened to hear of the death of comic actor Leslie Nielsen. He was 84 years old. Everyone will have seen his movies and he will always be Lt.Frank Drebin in the Naked Gun movies.


He also made appearances in so many television shows such as Murder She Wrote, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, The Golden Girls, Father Dowling Mysteries, Who's The Boss and Due South to mention just a few. He was a very versatile actor and you could see him playing any part he wanted to from funny to dramatic. He is a household name and he will always be remembered for his comical talents. His most famous part was in Police Squad and The Naked Gun Movies, but he was good in everything he was in. I liked him and he could always make you smile.


He had a long and varied career and he will be sorely missed as he was one of those actors you expect to be around forever. Sadly that is not the case but at least we have all of his movies to look at and we can laugh along with him. He is survived by his wife and 2 daughters. May he rest in peace..

Friday, November 26, 2010

Hell's Kitchen, Season 8 ,Episode 10 Recap



Last week, Rob went home and now there are only 7 left.

This week, Russell is pissed with Trevor because he was picked to go home. They are given a challenge to communicate with each other and Gillian makes a huge mistake by dropping her salmon. She costs the red team the win. The men end up winning and Gillian feels terrible because she knows that it was her fault.The men go shopping while the girls have to take in deliveries.Later, the chefs get to design their own menus for dinner service. They set about coming up with their dishes to put on the menu. Russell is being very domineering as usual and he wants his ideas to be the ones they use. Sabrina is moaning because the girls did not use her ideas and she bitches as usual.
 

That night, Vinnie and Trev stay up late, drinking and giving out about Russell. They don't see him coming down and he hears them. He is not impressed with them being up so late and drinking(watch video). The next morning, both of them are suffering from hangovers. Dinner service begins and it is blue menu versus red menu. Nona undercooks her risotto and Chef Ramsay is not impressed. Vinnie is not on top form and he is forgetting things.His service gets worse and worse as the night goes on. Gail is not doing so well, either. She is handing up raw lobster time and time again. Chef Ramsay gets very frustrated with her. The men's team is crumbling.
Vinnie is really beginning to lose it and he has just totally messed up. Gail matches his mistakes too. Both of them are really poor.Gail is kicked out of the kitchen.


That night, there is no winning team. They have to choose who goes home. They all try to screw Trev but it is Vinnie who gets sent home. I thought that he was good when he started out but he totally blew it....

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

The Walking Dead Season 1, Episode 3

Last week, we left Glenn driving a car away from the city shouting for joy. The others were in a truck, getting away from the undead. Merle was left on the roof and the others felt guilty about leaving him there.


This week, we begin with Merle talking to himself. He is still stuck on the roof and he can see the walkers coming for him. He looks at the hacksaw and we know that he is going to do some DIY on his arm. Cut back to Sheriff Grimes and the others. They are relieved to have gotten away. At the survivors camp, Shane and Carl are chatting. Suddenly, they hear Glenn's car coming. He is happy to see other survivors. He tells them that there are more survivors coming. Along comes Rick and the others. We find out that one of the Sheriffs gang, Andrea(Laurie Holden), has a sister, Amy(Emma Bell), in the survivors camp and they are reunited. There are other members of the gang who are reunited too.Lori sees Rick and she is amazed. Carl is delighted to see his dad too. Shane is happy, but sad because he knows that his relationship with Lori will have to end.


They all swap stories about what happened to them. Lori and Rick talk about it and they get close again.Unfortunately, Daryl(Norman Reedus) is in the camp too and he just happens to be Merle's brother.
They don't know how to tell him about what happened to Merle. Next day, they see a walker in the woods and they are worried that there will be more.They decide to tell Daryl about Merle and he is pissed. He argues with Rick.Rick decides to go back and get Merle before the walkers get him.Daryl is going with him as well as Glenn and another guy. Lori does not want Rick to go. While they are gone, Lori and Shane talk. Shane told her that Rick was dead and she is very angry with him. Rick and the team reach the rooftop but there is no Merle. All that is left is his bloody hand.....

Saturday, November 20, 2010

The Maze Movie Review 153



The Maze is a 2010 straight-to-DVD release, but that shouldn't put you off. It is low budget, but interesting.

The story begins with a group of friends who pull over at the side of the road. They are all telling different stories about this maze which had a killer inside it. They say that he was shot by a cop. They decide to go into a maze at night(WHY????)It is closed and one of them decides that it is a great idea and so enters it. The others follow.
They are having a game of hide and seek inside the maze. What they don't see is the guy in a red jacket who is following them. Something tells you that he isn't in the maze for the fun of it!

The pals see him inside the maze and they find weird things inside the maze like a guillotine. When I spotted that, I just knew that someone was going to get their head chopped off in it.One of the guys, Will(Kyle Paul) confronts him and gets killed. His girlfriend, Alison(Clare Niederpreum) runs away, but she gets caught. The owner shows up and he has a gun with him. He is very angry, but he falls into the hands of the killer and he is taken care of. Jordan(Shalaina Castle) and her friend Cole(Brandon Sean Pearson) find the bodies and they want to get out of the maze. Another pal of theirs, Colin(Tye Nelson) is the next to die. Cole decides to head off to get help, leaving Jordan alone(what the hell????). He meets the killer in red and he gets his head chopped off in the guillotine!!! 



Jordan wanders around looking for Cole. She finds Cole's body and she decides to burn down the maze. The baddie in red chases her and she stabs him and gets away. She goes to the cops and she is in shock. They try to figure out what happened. We find out that the baddie is a cop and he is questioning Jordan at the station. She realises that it is him and tapes his confession to her before he shoots her. The rest of the cops come in and hear it.....This movie was entertaining enough for a low budget affair and it is worth a look if you can get your hands on it. I am giving it a 6/10.


Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Paranormal Activity 2 Movie Review 152

 

Paranormal Activity was a surprise hit when it was released and this is the prequel. If you have seen the original one, you would expect a spooky prequel, but this was not what I had hoped for.

This movie begins before the events of the original movie. We find out that Katie(Katie Featherston) has a sister called Kristi(Sprague Grayden) and her husband Dan(Brian Boland). They have a baby, Hunter, Dan's daughter,Ali(Molly Ephraim) and a dog Abby. They live in a large house and they are installing cameras because of an apparent robbery. The only thing missing is a necklace which Katie had given to Kristi.The movie is similar in style to the original. Different things begin to happen at night and the housekeeper thinks that there is something evil in the house and she tries to cleanse the house. She thinks that there is a demon after Dan and Kristi's son because he is the first born son in their family for generations. Dan is not buying it and he lets her go.


 Spooky things happen, but there is a lot of dull sequences in between and not enough frights like the first movie.The action only begins near the end and by then, you have almost lost interest. On with the story anyway.The demon takes out the dog and it has to go to the vet. It then starts terrorizing Kristi.She gets dragged down to the basement and comes out possessed. She then is in a trance like state and Dan doesn't know what to do with her. Ali is upset and she shows him the footage of her going down to the basement. Dan calls back Martine and he wants her to help him  to pass the demon onto Katie so that it will leave them alone.There is some scuffle when he tries it on Kristi but it works. There follows a spoiler so don't read on if you don't want to know the ending!


The movie ends with Katie telling Kristi that she is having problems in her house. We then see her killing Micah and going to her sisters house and killing Dan and her sister. She takes Hunter and smiles...That is it. This movie was a disappointment to me. I expected it to be more like the original and I thought that it meandered in parts and it was not exciting. Everything happened in the last few minutes and it was too little too late. It is a pity that this was not better because I loved the original. I guess lightning doesn't strike twice....
This gets a 5/10.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Hell's Kitchen, Season 8, Episode 9 Recap


 Last week, Boris was sent home after a disastrous performance.This week, there are 8 chefs left so it is getting down to the wire now!

Trev is put back onto the men's team this week and he thinks that he will get along better, but the others don't seem too happy to have him back. It is his last chance to shine. That cow Sabrina is delighted that he has gone.She is very unpleasant(that's putting it nicely). The chefs have their challenge this week. They have the blind taste test. Neither teams do very well and you would really think that chefs would be able to taste ingredients but most of them are useless. The girls just scrape a victory thanks to Nona. The guys are not happy. They have to go through the trash for recycling and they have to prep both kitchens. The ladies go shopping and have dinner. The men are still annoyed with Trev and they are being very ignorant to him. They are not helping him at all. He seems to be very unpopular with everyone. 


Service begins and Rob starts to sink straight away. He can't seem to cook his scallops properly.It happens again and Chef Ramsay is pissed! Nona is having a bad service. She is having problems with chicken. Sabrina is doing well and she is really obnoxious.Nona is taking too long with her meat and she gets into trouble with Chef Ramsay(Watch video above). She annoys him by answering him back and he kicks her out of the kitchen. Vinnie makes a mistake with his spinach and he gets shouted at. He gets thrown out too. Rob pushes Chef Ramsay over the edge and he throws him out too.Russell joins them. Trev finishes on his own in the blue kitchen. He isn't as bad as they think.


After service, the men find out that they lost. He praises Trev for running it on his own. He gets to choose two people to send home. Russell and Rob are chosen. Rob is sent home because he just couldn't hack it. Russell is fuming that he was even chosen for elimination!!!!

Friday, November 12, 2010

The Walking Dead, Season 1. Episode 2


This series is getting better as it goes along. I know that it is only the second episode, but the quality of it feels like you are watching a film and the story is very like zombie movies I have seen in the past and enjoyed. I like everything about it so I am glad that this show seems to have been renewed for another season!!!

Last week, Sheriff Rick Grimes was trapped in a tank surrounded by hundreds of hungry zombies....A voice came to him over the radio...This week begins with Rick talking to the voice on the radio. They talk about how Rick is going to get out. The guy tells him to run for it... Rick has a gun and he finds a grenade. He decides to open the tank and he runs for it. He meets the guy behind the voice who turns out to be Glenn(Steven Yeun). He leads Rick to safety. It turns out that Glenn has pals with him. They are pissed that Rick has brought all the zombies to them. There is a racist redneck called Merle(Michael Rooker). He is a loose cannon and a bit of a nutcase. He has a gun and the others are afraid that he is going to kill them before the zombies do. He fights with them and Rick thumps him on the head and handcuffs him to a railing on the roof of the department store where the survivors are hiding out.


He talks to the other survivors and they tell him that the refugee centre doesn't exist. They figure out that the sewers are the only way to get out so they decide to go down but there are zombies there too. Meanwhile, the zombies are bashing the doors of the store and getting closer all the time...Rick spots trucks a bit away from the store and he thinks that if they can reach the trucks, maybe they can escape. They can't get to them though. They all realise that the walkers go by their sense of smell and that they can smell fresh meat. If they couldn't, then the humans can fool them into thinking that they are the same as them. They cut up a dead walker and cover themselves in his blood and guts. Rick and Glenn walk through them. I thought that that was a great scene as the two guys mingle with the undead! But, it starts to rain and their undead scent wears off.


Meanwhile, the other survivors camp with Shane and Lori hear the other group on the radio and try to reply, but they can't. Rick's group tell Shane's group that they are in a department store.Shane doesn't want to risk helping them as they will have to move and face the zombies. Glenn and Rick just make it to the truck in time. They drive and go to the store. Glenn makes a diversion by driving a car and making lots of noise to draw the zombies away while the others pack into the truck and drive away...They get away just as the walkers break down the doors and enter the store....The episode ends with Glenn speeding away in his car, shouting for joy...

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Hell's Kitchen Season 8, episode 7 and 8 Recap



This week I am going to do a short review of the two episodes as they are coming very quickly indeed. Last time, Melissa was given the boot.

So, Episode 7 saw the girls wanting Sabrina to go home and the guys wanting to be rid of Boris. So, the challenge  is that they have to spin the roulette wheel and they will get a letter. They have to think of an ingredient beginning with that letter. They both go and they cook their dishes. The girls team win the challenge and they get to go to Vegas and meet Penn and Teller!!!The men have to prepare potatoes for the family night that evening.


Service begins and Boris knows that he is on borrowed time. The families come to Hell's Kitchen and the chefs have to cater for loads of kids(groan).Vinnie makes a mistake by handing Chef Ramsay a huge risotto. Chef Ramsay's family are dining in the restaurant tonight and the chefs are told to make sure that their food gets out right and quickly. Vinnie gives Chef Ramsay a risotto which he had made earlier and he gets shouted at. Chef Ramsay is appalled. Trev and Sabrina clash again and she proves that she is a fool. Boris is getting on the wrong side of Chef Ramsay and he sweats into his food. Rob loses his way in service and he just loses it.That night, Chef Ramsay tells the chefs that most people were happy with the food, but he still has to send someone home. So, they have to pick two from each team to go home. The girls pick Nona and Sabrina and the men choose Boris and Rob. Nobody goes home because the service was so good!!!


Episode 8 and there are 9 left. So ,there is bickering between both teams. The challenge this week is for each team to come up with four different dishes. They both get $60 to shop and get their ingredients. Its men versus women and some judges are brought in to decide which dishes they would pay more for. The women win the challenge. They are treated to a day out on a boat. The men are in the crap again and they have to spend all day cleaning the place and then they have to fumigate the kitchens. They are all pissed off. Russell seems to be taking over the team and he is irritating as hell. They are all picking on Boris. It turns out that it is the 100th episode of Hell's Kitchen and there are some special guests coming. Past winners, Holli, Christina, Danny and Rock are back. They are at the chef's table and waiting for food(Watch Video)!


The pressure is on as the chefs are watched by the past winners. Boris is having a meltdown and messing everything up. Trev is slow and the others are trying to move him along. He is not doing very well. Chef Ramsay has to call the rest of the chefs over to help him and he is embarrassed. Russell stops communicating with the team and Rob is trying to get him to talk. Russell seems like a bit of an assh**e to be honest. Maybe he is a good cook, but he should be a bit nicer to other people. The women win that night and the men have to pick two people to go home. They pick Boris and Vinnie because he has a bad night. Chef Ramsay calls out Rob too. Boris gets the boot....