Hey everybody, your favourite moderator is here again.  Some big things are happening around these parts, so it’s been a little crazy.

Speaking of crazy, it’s been less than a week since I last posted my thoughts on various forms of entertainment.  This week it will be expanded and encompass another format: TV.

I’m not sure about everyone else, but HBO isn’t available up here in Canada.  There are some partnerships but typically we lag behind our American neighbours when it comes to HBO series airings.

And for that reason alone, I missed out on a series that may be the best I’ve ever seen.

ENTOURAGE

For months I’ve been pestered by some friends to watch it.  They all got hooked and with the three seasons on DVD, it’s pretty accessible now.

Entourage possesses that certain something.  I’m not sure if it’s the lifestyle, the girls (and oh my are there some real lookers - my favourite in case you’re wondering), the parties or the business side that attracts you to the show.  Ok, it’s all of that and more.  But Entourage is addictive.  I started to watch season 1 on a Sunday and I was done by Wednesday.  By the way, don’t tell the wife I was watching Entourage, I told her I was doing work...  important work... on my vacation.  Double bad... I know.

Season 1 was a little slow, but it gradually got better as it went on. Jessica Alba making a guest appearance helped ensure I kept watching.

Season 2 introduced Mandy Moore and Aquaman... I was firmly planted at this point.

Season 3 introduced a new character for a few episodes and I probably enjoyed that little arc the least but once he was gone... back to the winning formula.

Billy Walsh is the greatest character on television.

For the fans of the series, I now find myself wanting to yell “Lloyd!” when something goes wrong at work.  HBO should publish a daily calendar of sayings by Ari, I’d be all over that.

RECENT MOVIES

Due to the size of this posting, I’ll update the movies later in the week.

Speaking of later on... The Dark Knight is almost here... counting down the days, trust me.

RECENT DVDs

Hit:

Justice League: A New Frontier - A direct-to-dvd release by Warner Bros.  I really enjoyed it, especially on Blu Ray.  Those Warner Bros. guys have always done a good job with animated superhero properties since the original Batman.  Although not as good as Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, it’s still very good.

National Treasure 2 - Big fan of the first, the second wasn’t as good, but it didn’t disappoint. Got it on Blu Ray and the transfer was great.  It could have used some more bonus features, but solid title and release.

Stargate - Believe it or not, I didn’t see Stargate until this week.  Shocking, I know.  I don’t know why that is, but I guess I just forgot to see it.  Anyways, I grabbed the Blu Ray version (Notice a trend recently?  I’ll touch on that in a minute) and I really enjoyed it.  I can see how/why it spawned so many spin-offs.  It’s a great concept that opens up the universe, literally.

Miss:

Companies not doing digital copies.  Lion’s Gate and Fox are leading in an area that I feel every company needs to go.  The one thing that was stopping me from adopting Blu Ray completely was the lack of a digital copy.  I own an Apple TV and I store my collection on my computer.  It allows me to transfer it to my iPod and stream over the network.  I don’t need to get up and look for the disc, it’s all there for me, at all times.

Blu Ray stopped me from doing that.  What Lion’s Gate (with Rambo) and Fox (all releases going forward) are doing with the digital copies was a godsend for me.  It allows me to watch movies in high definition goodness, while getting the convenience and flexibility of DVD.  I’m begging all studios to follow suit and help me enter the next-generation.

This week’s Throwback film:

I don’t know if this film can be considered a throwback or a classic like Rocky (last week), but I think it’s worthy of mention.

Donnie Darko

Donnie Darko is a strange and weird movie but I like strange and weird.  I recently picked up the Director’s Cut (yes, I know fans of the movie say to get the original) but it was the only copy in stock.

Donnie Darko reminds me of a property I’ve been working on here at Throwback for a couple of years.  It’s out there.  It breaks the mold of what’s considered typical and brings in an aspect that makes you wonder, what?  You need to pay attention due to the sheer amount of abstract material, but it’s a fresh breath of clean air.

To steal an old saying:  Here’s to the crazy ones.  I’m a huge fan of psychological thrillers and if you are too, I’d recommend a watch.

RECENT GAMES

Time for some more rapid fire reviews.  Following last week’s Rocky mention, I’ve played some classic Boxing games.

Fight Night Round 3 (360) - An old game, but I kick butt in it. Block, left hook, right hook, repeat.  Always works.

Rocky (Sega Master System) - One of the first games I owned.  I remember the days I spent playing it in my youth.  It was funny playing it once more.

Ready 2 Rumble (Dreamcast) - This wasn’t my original copy as I had to get it replaced after the system launched (bad press according to what I was told) but it’s still a great game.  It’s funny playing the dude with the ‘fro and kicking some butt.  Quick game, totally enjoyed it.

Unreal Tournament 3 (PS3) - I wasn’t the biggest fan of the Unreal Tournament games, I always found myself on the iD side of things, but UT3 is pretty good.

Calling All Cars (PSN) - Fun game, worth a try.

That’s it for this entry.  I hope I didn’t bore you to death.

Suggestions, comments, feedback?  Email me at whoa@throwbackcorp.com

And remember, the opinions and views expressed in this blog and/or commentaries are solely of the individuals and are not the views of Throwback Entertainment, its parent, affiliate, or subsidiary companies.