Reviews by Fardreamer

Fardreamer says "Stephen King's Storm of the Century is effective TV chiller" about Storm of the Century

Fardreamer — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:11:54 GMT

In 1999, the ABC TV network, which has been "home" to best-selling author Stephen King's made-for-television movies and miniseries, aired Stephen King's Storm of the Century, which King wrote as an original "Novel for Television" rather than as an adaptation of an existing published work, tells the story from the point of view of Mike Anderson (Tim Daly), a grocery store owner and constable on Little Tall Island, which lies off the coast of Maine. It's some time in the late 1990s, and Mike is clearly recalling the traumatic events of the fateful arrival of Andre Linoge (Colm Feore) on the island just as a series of weather systems converge off the East Coast to form a Perfect Storm type of natural disaster.

For the residents of Little Tall, the so-called Storm of the Century is the least of their worries, because the mysterious Linoge isn't as unassuming as he looks. In fact, he makes his presence known by brutally killing the elderly Martha Clarendon (Rita Tuckett), taking away her walker...

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Fardreamer says "Silver Bullet is so-so Stephen King-based werewolf movie" about Silver Bullet

Fardreamer — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:37:05 GMT

By sheer literary output alone, Stephen King has the dubious honor of having written the most novels or stories adapted for theatrical release. Ranging from the ridiculous (Maximum Overdrive) to the sublime (The Shawshank Redemption, Stand By Me), movies based on King's horror and supernaturally-themed novels have attracted (and sometimes disappointed) audiences ever since Brian De Palma made Carrie in 1976. Some King fans even used to joke that if Hollywood ever got its hands on Steve-O's laundry list, it, too, would be made into "a major motion picture."

If you ask me on which end of the quality spectrum I'd place 1985's Silver Bullet, which is based on Cycle of the Werewolf, one of King's shorter novellas, I'd have to say it tends to lean more toward the Trashy King Adaptation side than it does to the Classic-and-Classy King crowd. It's not as bad as, say, Creepshow or even the aforementioned Maximum Overdrive (which was King's only foray into directing a film). Even so, it's not one...

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Fardreamer says "Though graphic and tragic, Black Hawk Down is a classic film" about Black Hawk Down

Fardreamer — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:45:38 GMT

Based on Mark Bowden's 1999 best selling nonfiction book, Black Hawk Down is a gritty, sometimes harrowing account of the bloody firefight between 150 Army Rangers and Delta Force commandos against literally thousands of Somali militia members in the streets of Mogadishu.

Producer Jerry Bruckheimer (The Rock, Top Gun) and director Ridley Scott (Alien, Gladiator), working from an adapted screenplay by Ken Nolan, vividly recreate the confusion and violence of modern urban warfare in stark, often very graphic detail rivaled perhaps only by Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan. It is, after all, a depiction of what was, until the current conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, the most sustained and bloody firefight in U.S. Army history since the Vietnam War.

Like Bowden's book, focuses on the events of October 3, 1993, when a combined force of Army Rangers and Delta Force operatives were sent into a hostile section of Mogadishu, Somalia. Their mission, to capture two of warlord Mohammad...

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Fardreamer says "Though graphic and tragic, Black Hawk Down is a classic film" about Black Hawk Down

Fardreamer — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:45:37 GMT

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Fardreamer says "Stephen King's The Eyes of the Dragon appeals to young readers" about The Eyes of the Dragon

Fardreamer — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:52:32 GMT

In the mid-1990s, I used to ghostwrite for a woman who had the desire to write children's stories but, alas, lacked the writing skills to do so.

One of the problems my erstwhile client had was that she seemed to have only one thematic idea that she recycled endlessly - a smart but lonely young girl or woman who found herself in a sticky situation or a romantic dillemma, tried to use her wits to solve her problems but eventually had to rely on a deus ex machina or external force - usually magic of fairies - to achieve her goals.

Because my client usually paid $200 per project (no matter how long it took) in exchange for a share of royalties that never came, I manfully attempted to balance her creative needs with what I figured was best-seller possible realities and often came up with a compromise between her "happily ever after" and some darker elements derived from such classic stories as Cinderella, Snow White and Hansel and Gretel.

Admittedly, I was also influenced by such fantasy/horror...

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Fardreamer says "Queen Amidala is ready to fight in this 1999 action figure" about Hasbro Star Wars - Episode I: Queen Amidala - Naboo (CommTech Figure)

Fardreamer — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 02:04:22 GMT

If you've watched the entire six-Episode Star Wars saga by George Lucas, you've probably noticed that the writer-director likes to use certain storytelling devices over and over again, like variations of a musical theme. The "repetition" of ideas ranges from placing both Anakin Skywalker and his son Luke in nearly identical situations, the use by various characters of the line I have a bad feeling about this, all the way to the "secret identity" motif in which one character ("Ben" Kenobi, Senator Palpatine, and even Yoda) is first introduced in one guise but is then revealed to be someone else.

Of course, savvy audiences knew in 1999 (as Qui-Gon Jinn certainly does in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace) that "Padme Naberrie," Queen Amidala's loyal and spirited handmaiden, is really the Queen in disguise

Ditching the elaborate and elegant robes and makeup of the throne room on Naboo and elsewhere, "Padme" is seen in The Phantom Menace wearing three basic outfits: the orange-red hooded...

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Fardreamer says "Dark Lord Rising: Darth Vader Lightsaber Attack figure rules!" about Hasbro Star Wars - Episode III: Darth Vader Lightsaber Attack Figure

Fardreamer — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:29:27 GMT

Darth Vader (Lightsaber Attack - The Figure:

Coinciding with the release of George Lucas' Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith in 2005, Hasbro released a wave of 3.75-inch scale action figures featuring characters from the movie as part of the company's revamped Star Wars collection of figures, vehicles, and playsets.

This variant of the oft re-released Vader action figure is the 11th in the Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith collection, which includes such familiar characters as Vader's alter ego Anakin Skywalker, Yoda, R2-D2, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Emperor Palpatine.

It's also an unusual variation on the theme of Vader, as it were, because its more of an after the movie incarnation of everyone's Sith Lord. After all, during most of Episode III we see "Vader" before he becomes, in writer-director Lucas' own words, "the Man in the Suit." And even then, we don't get to see him wield his Sith-red lightsaber or go after any Jedi who survived Order 66; when we last see Lord Vader,...

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Fardreamer says "Anakin Skywalker figure shows the boy who will be Vader" about Hasbro Star Wars - Episode I: Anakin Skywalker - Tatooine (CommTech Figure)

Fardreamer — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:33:18 GMT

In Star Wars fandom, as in any fan community with millions of members, there are several constituencies that have distinct and often diametrically opposite views on the space-fantasy saga created by George Lucas in the 1970s as "mythology for the modern era."

There are, of course, the Star Wars Generation '77 fans, those who were there when 20th Century Fox first released Star Wars (also known as Star Wars - Episode IV: A New Hope) and transformed Lucas' galactic fairy tale from a fun B-movie into a cultural "Force" to be reckoned with.

Then there are the younger Classic Trilogy fans who saw the first three films mostly on home video and as the Special Edition re-release in 1997. Fanatically loyal to the original pre-1997 Classic Trilogy movies, these tend to be critical of Lucas' newer Star Wars projects and the most vocal foes of....

The Prequel Trilogy fans, which are Star Wars lovers who are so young that their first experiences with that galaxy far, far away can only be traced...

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Fardreamer says "Though not my fave flavor, Wintergreen Altoids are cool mints!" about Altoids Wintergreen Strong Mints Candy 6 Tins (Altoids)

Fardreamer — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:18:23 GMT

Over the past two centuries, since British confectioners London's Smith & Co. created the Curiously Strong Peppermint candies, the Altoids family of "mints" has grown to include other flavors, including Cinnamon, Spearmint, Ginger, Liquorice, and Wintergreen.

Of the ones I've actually tried out - I don't like licorice, so Liquorice is a no-go for me, and I'm not too sure about Ginger, either - I'd have to say that the Wintergreen variety is my least favorite.

Appearance-wise, Wintergreen Altoids resemble their Peppermint siblings; they're smallish, white "pills" that can easily be confused for medication (or so I've always thought!), and come in small tins which, other than a different color scheme (blue edges), a picture of a wintergreen plant, and the flavor name. is identical to the original Altoids Peppermint tin.

Taste and aroma-wise, well, that's another ball game. Instead of the crisp minty scent of the original flavor, Altoids Wintergreen smells quite a bit like Ben Gay, which...

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Fardreamer says "Crowd Control version of Stormtrooper figure is way cool!" about Hasbro Star Wars - The Power of the Force: Crowd Control Stormtrooper (Deluxe Figure)

Fardreamer — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 19:23:59 GMT

When Kenner Toys first introduced the 3.75-inch scale Star Wars action figures in 1978, one of the first 12 figures was the Imperial Stormtrooper, the fearsome shock soldier of the evil Galactic Empire.

Though by the standards of the day the original Stormtrooper figure was nicely designed and sculpted, it had several weak points.

First, it had very limited mobility. It only had articulation points (or joints) at the shoulders and hips, which meant that it and its brother Stormtroopers couldn't really be posed realistically unless all you wanted to do with them was having them stand at attention behind Darth Vader or the figure alternatively known as Imperial Death Squad Commander or Star Destroyer Commander. The figure's lack of a neck joint (which was a common design element in Imperial character figures during the time Kenner produced Star Wars figures) also prevented kids or collectors from being able to turn the Stormtrooper's head to make him look natural.

Kenner did produce...

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Fardreamer says "Nizoral A-D helps me control nasty dandruff problem!" about Nizoral A-D

Fardreamer — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 20:42:28 GMT

Ever since I started suffering from dandruff with the onset of puberty -- for more than 30 years -- I've tried most of the better-known over-the-counter anti-dandruff shampoos; from Head & Shoulders, Selsun Blue, Tegrin, and Herbal Essences, I've had mixed results, with some symptoms (such as excessive flaking and itching) minimized but never really eliminated. Worse, when I'm stressed (as I have been lately for mostly personal reasons), my dandruff really flares up; the itch becomes maddening and I find myself scratching my head almost obsessively. When this happens, not only can't I wear dark-colored T-shirts or jackets, but I can't focus on writing or any chore that requires any amount of concentration. Thus it was that I stepped into the shower, with my small $11 bottle of Nizoral in hand, with a large amount of skepticism and a small bright flame of hope.

After wetting my hair thoroughly as per the directions on the bottle, I turned off the shower and applied a dime-sized amount of...

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Fardreamer says "Altoids Cinnamon are British red hots with a bite!" about Altoids Curiously Strong Mints Cinnamon

Fardreamer — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 20:13:42 GMT

Although I tend to favor the original peppermint flavored Altoids (which have changed little since 1780), I do, on occasion, try other flavors, including Altoids Cinnamon.

The Cinnamon flavored Altoids come in a variety of tins, but more often than not they are packed in red-and-gold tins that distinguish them from other flavors.

Ingredients-wise (and no, I'm not going to list them all!), this flavor variant contains the same ones as the Peppermint Altoids, except for two key ingredients, cinnamon oil and Red 40 lake.

Taste-wise, these little babies are similar to the small candies known as Red Hots, but the concentration of cinnamon oil makes them, well, "curiously strong." So if you like "mints" with a bite, as it were, it's quite likely that you'll enjoy them.

Although these aren't "health aids" or a substitute for brushing your teeth and rinsing with mouthwash, Cinnamon Altoids are pretty handy to have around after meals or - as I discovered one particular night in 2000 - before a very...

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Fardreamer says "Liberty Orchards' Aplets and Cotlets are a fruity delight!" about Liberty Orchards - Aplets and Cotlets

Fardreamer — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 19:58:01 GMT

Liberty Orchards - which began operating in 1918 when two Armenian immigrants bought an apple farm in eastern Washington State and began experimenting with apple dehydration - has been making Aplets (a confection made of dried apples and walnuts based on a recipe for a Near Eastern candy known as rahat locoum) since 1920, partly as a purely business venture using surplus fruit, and partly out of nostalgia for some of the customs and foods from the Old World.

Several years later, Liberty Orchards came up with another variant of rahat locoum made from dried apricots and walnuts, which they named Cotlets. The two confections, which are essentially little rectangular cubes of jellied dried fruit and nuts lightly covered with powdered sugar, were then packaged together as Aplets and Cotlets, and before the outbreak of World War II, they were a treat for people who lived in or traveled to the Pacific Northwest region.

After World War II and with the advent of affordable air travel, Liberty Orchards...

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Fardreamer says "Tom Clancy's John Clark takes the stage in Rainbow Six" about Rainbow Six

Fardreamer — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 19:17:19 GMT

Where Have All the Clancys Gone?

From 1984 until 2003, Thomas L. Clancy, Jr. (aka Tom Clancy) was a powerful presence in the publishing and entertainment industries.

To date, Clancy has written over 20 novels and non-fiction books, most notably the Jack Ryan/John Clark series which was introduced with the 1984 sub-chase thriller The Hunt for Red October and (presumably) ended with 2003's The Teeth of the Tiger. Four of those novels have been adapted into feature films, and various books - written by other authors - have been published under the "Tom Clancy" multi-media label which includes computer simulations, first-person shooter games and strategy games for various platforms.

But after the lukewarm reaction to Clancy's The Teeth of the Tiger in 2003, only the various computer games of the Splinter Cell series and Rainbow Six franchise seem to be the only vestiges of the once-mighty Clancy empire. The movies seem to have stalled after the failed reboot The Sum of All Fears, even though...

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Fardreamer says "Shmi Skywalker: Even Darth Vader had a mom once......" about Star Wars: Power Of The Jedi Shmi Skywalker Action Figure

Fardreamer — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 18:35:33 GMT

Although the 1999-2005 Star Wars Prequel Trilogy (The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith) will likely never be as beloved as the original Classic Trilogy by most fans, they do serve their intended purpose - to fully explain that Darth Vader, one of filmdom's greatest villains of all time, wasn't so much the personification of evil most viewers thought he was, but that he was a tragic figure who made poor choices despite his good intentions during his youth as Anakin Skywalker, the slave boy from Tatooine who left his home to become a Jedi Knight, not realizing that his love for his mother - Shmi - would prove to be one of his biggest Achilles heels once the Sith Lords became aware of his existence.

One of my favorite dramatis personae was the stoic-yet-loving Shmi Skywalker, Anakin's single mom and future grandmother to Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia Organa. Abducted by space pirates early in her teens, Shmi served under several masters until she and her son...

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Fardreamer says "Han Solo Gunner Station: Cool but not my favorite collectible" about Hasbro Star Wars - The Power of the Force Gunner Station: Millennium Falcon with Han Solo

Fardreamer — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:07:46 GMT

If you've been a regular or even casual reader of my reviews here in Viewpoints or other review sites, you probably know that I am a true-blue fan of the Star Wars movies and a collector of action figures, books and other tie-ins to George Lucas' space-fantasy tale set "a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away."

Though I was somewhat skeptical about 1977's Star Wars when it was first released and waited till October of that year to see it, I was blown away by the exciting visuals, wonderful music and engaging characters just as most of my friends and acquaintances had. And because in those pre-VCR Revolution days the only way to bring home some of the magic of Star Wars was through buying tie-in books, soundtrack albums and the then-new "action figures" made by Kenner, I bought as many as I could with my allowance money.

One of the most expensive items I bought back in the 1970s was the original Kenner Millennium Falcon, which was a necessarily disproportionately scaled rendition of...

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Fardreamer says "Relive exciting Star Wars scene with this Gunner Station toy" about Hasbro Star Wars - The Power of the Force Gunner Station: Millennium Falcon with Luke Skywalker

Fardreamer — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:25:55 GMT

The year 1997 marked the 20th anniversary of the release of George Lucas' space-fantasy film Star Wars, which was later renamed Star Wars - Episode IV: A New Hope when it became part of a larger saga set "a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away."

Lucasfilm Limited and 20th Century Fox gave fans a nice - if at times controversial - anniversary gift when in January of that year they released the first installment of The Star Wars Trilogy: The Special Edition in theaters. Using computer-generated imagery (CGI) technology that would be later used to create much of the Prequel Trilogy, Lucas and his effects team at Industrial Light and Magic restored the old Star Wars movies in order for them to match up with the saga's creator's original vision.

Though some of the changes - the reinsertion of the confrontation between Jabba and Han Solo in Docking Bay 94 and the Greedo-shoots-first scene in the cantina sequence - later had to be redone for the DVD and remain controversial among Star Wars...

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Fardreamer says "Presto's Orville Redenbacher Popcorn maker is superb!" about Orville Redenbacher Presto 04821 Hot Air Popper

Fardreamer — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:29:40 GMT

To me, one of the nicest things about going to the movies is buying a bag of popcorn and adding some melted butter and a pinch or two of salt, then consuming it while watching the feature presentation and washing it down with a nice cup of Coca-Cola.

Of course. one can make popcorn at home, too. In microwave ovens, mostly, but some people still use either (a) Jiffy Pop stovetop popcorn (b) improvised poppers, or (c) popcorn makers of various makes and brands.

Until very late in 2007, if I wanted popcorn at home I'd usually get Orville Redenbacher's Microwave Popcorn. We had owned a very good popcorn maker in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but after it finally stopped working during my college years, we relied on the various microwave ovens and those convenient kernels-and-oil-in-a-bag packages to enjoy a salty snack while watching movies on first our videocassette recorder and later our DVD players.

Then the news that some types of microwave popcorn weren't exactly very safe to eat -...

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Fardreamer says "Detailing is so-so in this 1997 POTF Leia Organa action figure" about Hasbro Star Wars - The Power of the Force Princess Leia Organa (with Blaster Rifle and Long-Barreled Pistol)

Fardreamer — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:22:29 GMT

If you had been able to travel back in time to when I was nine years old and told me that I'd be collecting action figures (boy-geared dolls, in other words) from my teens well into my adult years, you'd probably have gotten an incredulous reply along the lines of "You're kidding me, right?"

Back in the early 1970s, my favorite toys were cap guns, Mattel-made M-16s, armies of toy soldiers, and, above all else, toy planes and ships. I had some Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars as well, but because I was, even at that young age, into all things military, most of my toys were olive-drab in color and not very pacifist in theme.

So if you had told me that a movie set "a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away" would capture my imagination at age 14 and transform me into a collector of little plastic dolls, I'd have thought you were mad as the Mad Hatter and sent you on your way.

Of course, when Star Wars became a huge hit and bona fide cultural Force, I was caught up (albeit after...

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Fardreamer says "Leia and her Ewok rescuer round out the Princess Leia Collection" about Hasbro Star Wars - The Princess Leia Collection: Princess Leia and Wicket

Fardreamer — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:41:33 GMT

One of the best things about George Lucas as the creator of "modern mythology" is that when he set out to create the Star Wars and Indiana Jones series, he astutely avoided the "damsel in distress" archetype prevalent in action and fantasy films of the 1970s and 1980s.

Clearly, in Star Wars, he did not dispense with female-characters-in-peril altogether; Carrie Fisher's Princess Leia Organa does get captured by Lord Darth Vader's forces twice in the Classic Trilogy, but Lucas wisely envisioned her as a strong character who often takes charge of the situation. (In a clever twist, it's Leia who has to "rescue" Han and Luke after they bungle the breakout from the first Death Star's detention block.)

And because Lucas intended the Star Wars saga to have universal appeal, it's not surprising that many of the movies' most ardent fans have always been girls and women.

When the Princess Leia and... sets were rolled out in 1997, Hasbro still used the Kenner label on its Star Wars collectibles because...

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