An alien energy source comes to earth and chooses Owen Wilson to be the guardian. This means he gets to take advantage of the energy source, and the technology it allows to fix all bad things on earth. This includes a secret lair beneath his house, but costs him time with his kid. The bulk of this movie is the kid and his friends finding the lair, and then protecting it against the bad guy, while Wilson is out on a mission. Pretty derivative, with a Spy Kids feel.
2 stars (out of 5)
Season 3
Ten artists compete in weekly challenges in glass blowing. Much like Inkmaster the joy in this series is in watching the artistic process. But there is no drama here, no snippy competition show angst. Just a bunch of artists trying to put out their best work and supporting each other through the process. Some really fantastic work is shown as a result.
4 stars (out of 5)
A man wakes up in a bloody bed in Korea. A CIA team breaks in and asks him a bunch of questions, but he has no memory. Then a com in his head starts giving him instructions. Turns out he is the sole resource available to prevent the further spread of a massively contagious virus while simultaneously working toward North/South collaboration. Within the first 10 minutes, the body count is well above 100 as Carter fights his way out of his opening bloody bed. I lost interest...
1 star (out of 5)
A treasure hunt that shows its fantastical nature in the first scene (jumping up a chain of containers hanging from a C-137 while fighting) consistently through the last (Sikorsky sky-crane helicopters in dogfight while towing 500 year old 3-mast wooden ships). So knowing this, it is DaVinci Code + Indiana Jones + Romancing the Stone. Nate, Victor and Chloe (Tom Holland, Mark Wahlberg and Sophia Ali) are all treasure hunters, seeking Magellan's lost gold. Santiago Moncado (Antonio Banderas) is the bad guy whose family originally funded the trip and believes he is the rightful owner of the gold. Summer diversion: check.
3 stars (out of 5)
When a hardware decryption device is created that can crack any network and take control of any system comes on the market, every intelligence agency in the world is in pursuit. So are all the bad guys. This movie centers on CIA, MI6, BND, MSS agents and a Colombian therapist who all get thrown together in hunting down the device. They are all "I don't have a partner" types and all women who are at the top of their game. Overall, it is predictable and yet still fun to watch.
3 stars (out of 5)
Season 4
I continue to like this series. Mark and the Gotham Garage crew are entering new territory, gunning for the high end client (getting away from the trade-up model). The feature builds this season include a baja beetle, viper 3-wheel camaro, an army ambulance party bus and a zephyr sedan/panel van hybrid.
4 stars (out of 5)
