Blu-Ray Review – Justice League Season 1


The cover art for Justice League: Season 1 on Blu-Ray

Get the Blu-Ray edition of Justice League: Season 1 from Amazon.com

If you’ve been following my reviews on Bureau42, you may know that I enjoy superhero comics, particularly judging by my reviews of DC: The New Frontier and similar works, as well as allusions to superhero comics in other reviews I’ve written. So, I missed Justice League when it first aired on TV. I missed it when it came out on DVD. However, now it’s finally out on Blu-Ray, and I’ve finally seen it. I’m pleased by what I’ve seen. My mind was not blown, but I did enjoy what I saw.

The series does what some of the best Justice League comics runs have done, such as Grant Morrison’s, and kept the league to a tight lineup: Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman (II – Diana Prince), The Flash (technically The Flash II as we see Barry Allen’s origin story, but we’re not doing prior incarnations here), Green Lantern (IV – John Stewart), Hawkgirl (I – Shayera Hol) and the Martian Manhunter. Continue reading

DVD Review – Bones: Season 1


Bones Season 1 Cover Art

Get Bones: Season 1 from Amazon.com

I enjoy mysteries. I read Sherlock Holmes novels as a kid. I read pulp detective novels and Agatha Christie novels as a teen. As a grown up I’ve found myself drawn to the current trend of forensic detective TV series, like CSI on CBS. After missing the boat early on, I’ve picked up the first season of Bones, and have given it a watch.

The show focuses on Dr. Temperance “Bones” Brennan (played by Emily Deschanel), a woman with a doctorate in Forensic Anthropology who works at the Jeffersonian Institution (not-the-Smithsonian). She’s also a novelist, and probably on-spectrum (and it doesn’t help her mental state that she was knocked around the foster kid system for a while). She’s partnered with FBI Special Agent Seely Booth, an ex-marine sniper (played by David Boreanaz), a more intuitive kind of guy. Togeather–wait for it–they fight crime! Continue reading

Video Game Review – Battlefield: Bad Company


The Cover art for Battlefield: Bad Company

Get Battlefield: Bad Company from Amazon.com

Well, it’s a new year, and with the new year comes more opportunities to clear more titles off my Pile of Shame. First up is the spinoff of EA’s Battlefield series, aimed for the Consoles – Battlefield: Bad Company.

The Premise:

Private Preston Marlowe has screwed up. After going in a joyride in a helicopter, destroying a General’s limo in the process (along with the helicopter), Marlowe is assigned to B Company of the 222nd regiment, also known as Bad Company. The unit has the highest mortality rate in the Army, and is made up more-or-less entirely of bad apples. His squad is not an exception. It consists of pyromaniac George Gordon Haggard Jr., Terrence Sweetwatter, and Sgt. Sam Redford, who volunteered to be in the unit if it would get him out of the Army early. When the squad discovers that enemy forces in this war have hired the mercenary company “The Legionnaires” – an infamous mercenary company that is always paid in gold, they decide to go on a Payroll heist. Continue reading

Video Game Review – Burnout: Paradise (PS3)


The Cover art from the PS3 version of Burnout Paradise

Get Burnout Paradise from Amazon.com

So, I’ve previously reviewed Need for Speed: ProStreet and Carbon. Both were pretty decent racing racing games, putting aside the very significant and major flaws I pointed out in my reviews of both games. Well, in my review of ProStreet, I said I’d give GRID a try. As you can tell from the title of the review, I haven’t. What I have tried is Criterion’s more arcade style, open world street racing game Burnout: Paradise. I’ve basically made it through career mode (I’ve gotten my Burnout License), so it’s time to give my thoughts on the game.

The Premise:

No particularly story in this game. You complete various racing events in the fictitious city of Paradise City. As you complete racing events, you upgrade your license. As you upgrade your license you unlock additional cars, as well as unlocking cars by taking them out (by which I mean force them into a wreck) while driving around the city. Continue reading